.  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 

OF 

NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE 


BY 
HORATIO   BRIDGE 

PAYMASTER -GENERAL    U.    S.    NAVY    (RETIRED) 


What  then  ?  shall  -we  sit  idly  d<rwn  and  say 
The  night  hath  come,  it  is  no  longer  day  ? 
The  night  hath  not  yet  come ;  me  are  not  quite 
Cut  off  from  labor  by  the  failing  light 
Something  remains  for  us  to  do  or  dare 
Even  the  oldest  tree  some  fruit  may  bear 

"Morituri  Salutamus' 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER     &     BROTHERS     PUBLISHERS 
1393 


Ji  y. 

'*4 

'& 
/ft 
M 


Copyright,  1893,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


All  rights  reserved. 


TO 
CHARLOTTE  MARSHALL  BRIDGE 

THE  WIFE  WHO,  BY    HER  WISE  COUNSELS   AND  CHEERFUL  AID,  HAS 

CONTRIBUTED     LARGELY     TO     WHATEVER     OF     SUCCESS     HAS 

COME  TO   ME   SINCE  OUR    MARRIAGE;    WHO  HAS   BRAVELY 

BORNE  HER  FULL  SHARE  OF  LIFE'S  BURDENS,  AND  WHO 

FOR    MANY   YEARS,  ENJOYED    HAWTHORNE'S 

FRIENDSHIP    AND   CONFIDENCE 

THIS  VOLUME 

lix  CKratefullg  Xnscribctj  b)» 

THE  AUTHOR 


226791 


PREFACE 


THREE  papers  of  "  Personal  Recollections  of 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,"  recently  published  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  were  favorably  received,  and 
have  brought  many  letters,  from  strangers  as 
well  as  from  friends,  urging  me  to  publish  still 
more  upon  the  same  subject. 

I  may  therefore  hope  that  a  somewhat  more 
extended  account— in  book-form— of  Hawthorne 
will  also  be  well  received. 

Accordingly,  while  taking  the  papers  just  men 
tioned  as  the  basis  of  a  volume,  I  have  added 
some  new  material  —  including  several  letters 
from  Hawthorne  and  General  Pierce — now  first 
published. 

For  many  years  I  have  resisted  the  persua 
sions  of  friends  and  publishers  to  write  some 
thing  of  Hawthorne's  life  and  character;  to  which 
end  many  recollections  and  not  a  little  material, 
still  in  my  possession,  might,  perchance,  be  profit- 


VI  PREFACE 

ably  applied.  But,  conscious  of  having  neither 
the  literary  ability  nor  the  critical  skill  essential 
to  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  great  romance- 
writer  or  to  an  analysis  of  his  writings,  I  shall 
refrain  from  attempting  either,  and  here  limit  my 
narrative  chiefly  to  matters  connected  with  his 
college  days,  and  to  some  incidents  in  his  later 
career  which,  I  think,  have  not  yet  been  fully  re 
counted  by  others. 

The  rules  of  chronology  will  not  be  strictly  ad 
hered  to  in  the  following  pages,  whatever  may 
be  the  effect  on  the  story.  My  main  object  is  to 
give  some  facts — new  and  old — with  little  regard 
to  structure  or  embellishment. 

A  somewhat  busy  life  on  my  part  and  fre 
quent  separations,  by  sea  and  land,  often  broke 
the  continuity  of  our  personal  association,  but 
never  that  of  our  friendship.  As  an  offset  to 
those  separations,  however,  I  probably  received 
more  letters  from  Hawthorne,  of  a  purely  friend 
ly  character,  than  did  any  other  man. 

The  earlier  of  those  letters  were  all  destroyed 
at  his  request.  Some  of  the  others — the  pub 
lishing  of  which  I  trust  no  friend  of  his  would 
disapprove — are  herein  given.  H.  B. 

"THE  MOORINGS,"  ATHENS,  Pa.,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Boyhood  of  Hawthorne. — Leaving  Home  for  College. — 
Youthful  Characteristics. — His  Personality Page  i 

CHAPTER  II. 

Preface  to  "The  Snow  Image."  —  Pastimes. — College 
Grounds  and  Surroundings. — Favorite  Strolls. — "Songs 
for  Sailors."— The  Old  Fortune-Teller.— Self-Distrust.  7 

CHAPTER  III. 

Class  of  1825. — Longfellow  and  Others. — Duel  of  Cilley. — 
Men  of  Mark  in  other  Classes.  —  Pierce,  Fessenden, 
Stowe,  I.  P.  Hale,  and  others. — Franklin  Pierce's  Char 
acter  and  Rank  in  College 16 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Social  Life  in  Brunswick. — College  Friendships. — Favorite 
Studies. — Rank  at  Graduation. — Poetry  Renounced.  .  32 

CHAPTER  V. 

Salem  Home. — College  Expenses. — Inn  near  College. — 
Social  Gatherings. — Card-Playing. — Rooms  and  Board 
ing-Places. — Incidental  Expenses 38 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ftVager  about  Marriages-Early  Letters  Destroyed. — Haw 
thorne's  Pseudonyms.  —  Unmusical Page  47 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Faculty  of  Bowdoin. — Close  of  College  Life. — Semi 
centennial  Class  Reunion 51 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Life  after  Graduation  already  Chronicled  by  others. — 
Franklin  Pierce's  Friendship  for  Hawthorne,  and  his  De 
votion  to  the  Union. — Republicans  Blind  to  the  Danger 
of  Secession. — A  Month's  Visit  to  Writer.  —  French 
Teacher  Described. — Purpose  of  Commercial  Life  Aban 
doned. — "  Seven  Tales  of  my  Native  Land." — Fanshawe. 
— Despondency. — Various  Disappointments. — Old  Let 
ters  of  Writer  Reproduced 59 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Peter  Parley  Books.  —  "  Twice -Told -Tales.  "  —  Exploring 
Expedition. — Weigher  and  Ganger  in  Boston  Custom- 
House. — Brook  Farm '. . .  77 

CHAPTER   X. 

Vllawthorne's  Marriage.  4-Life  at  the  Old  Manse. — Failure 
to  Obtain  Postmastership  at  Salem.  —  "Journal  of  an 
African  Cruiser."  —  Letters  Relating  thereto. —Advice 
about  Journalizing 86 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Return  to  Salem. — Visit  to  Writer  at  Portsmouth  Navy- 
Yard. — Appointed  Surveyor  in  Salem  Custom-House. — 
Removed  from  Office. — Resentment  towards  Salem  Peo- 
Ple 105 


CONTENTS  IX 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Several  Visits  to  us  after  my  Marriage.  — Hawthorne's  Resi 
dence  in  Lenox. — The  Red  House  Burned. — "  The  Life 
of  Franklin  Pierce  " Page  IJ7 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

The  Liverpool  Consulate.— Letters  relating  to  Changes  of 
Consular  Salaries.— Letter  of  Sympathy.— Offer  of  Por 
tuguese  Mission  Declined.— Resignation  of  Consulate.— 
Recollections  of  a  Gifted  Woman 135 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

Return  to  America.— The  Civil  War.—  Hawthorne's  Polit 
ical  Principles.— His  Loyalty  to  the  Union 164 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Visit  to  Washington  in  War  Time.  —  Letters  showing  De 
votion  to  Northern  Cause. —  Failing  Health.  —  General 
Pierce's  Account  of  Hawthorne's  Last  Journey  and 
Death. — General  Tierce's  own  Death 167 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Several  Letters  of  Mrs.  Hawthorne. — Conclusion.  ...   182 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE Frontispiece 

From  a  Photograph  taken  in  1860. 

HAWTHORNE'S  BIRTHPLACE Faces  p.    38 

NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 68 

After  a  Painting  by  C.  G.  Thomson,  1850. 

THE  "OLD  MANSE" 86 

CUSTOM-HOUSE,  SALEM H° 

HORATIO  BRIDGE T46 

"  THE     WAYSIDE,"    RESIDENCE     OF     HAW 
THORNE  AT  CONCORD 164 

HAWTHORNE'S  GRAVE.         "        180 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 

OF 

NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  boyhood  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  has 
been  chronicled  by  his  son  Julian,  in  the  biogra 
phy  of  "Nathaniel  Hawthorne  and  His  Wife"; 
by  his  son-in-law  Lathrop,  in  the  "  Study  of  Haw 
thorne  " ;  and  recently,  in  an  article  in  the  Wide- 
Awake,  by  his  relative  Elizabeth  Manning. 

I  shall  therefore  refer  to  that  period  only  be 
cause  Hawthorne's  isolation  and  environment  in 
boyhood  seem  to  me  to  have  had  an  important 
influence  upon  his  character  and  conduct,  even  • 
after  he  had  come  to  manhood.  He  is  described 
by  his  eldest  sister  (see  "  Biography,"  Vol.  I., 
p.  99)  as  a  "  beautiful  and  bright  boy ;  indulged 
not  only  by  his  mother,  but  by  all  his  uncles  and 
aunts." 

Perhaps  he  might  have  been  spoiled  by  this 


V  l^  :  NATK>.Nj£L    HAWTHORNE 

indulgence,  had  not  an  accident  brought  on  a 
tedious  lameness  which — though  temporarily  dis- 
abli ng — doubtless  proved  a  "  blessing  in  disguise  " 
by  keeping  him  aloof  from  the  active  sports  of 
boyhood,  and  compelling  him  to  seek  occupation 
and  pleasure  mainly  in  books. 

This  enforced  physical  inaction,  together  with 
the  seclusion  of  his  mother's  house  and  his  long 
absences  from  Salem,  combined  to  make  him  al 
most  a  stranger  in  his  native  town  until  he  had 
left  college ;  and  these  conditions  must  neces 
sarily  have  had  great  influence  in  forming  his 
peculiar  character  and  shaping  his  later  course. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  I  turn  to  the 
subject  of  his  college  life,  the  delineation  of 
which  was  the  original  and  principal  motive  for 
the  present  writing. 

A  boy  on  going  to  college  seventy  years  ago 
went  under  conditions  so  different  from  those  of 
to-day  that,  to  appreciate  the  situation,  one  must 
revert  to  the  old  stage-coach  as,  in  the  early 
morning,  it  passed  from  house  to  house,  the  driver 
blowing  his  horn  to  summon  the  passengers,  and 
the  family  coming  out  to  give  their  farewells  and 
such  cautions  as  would  overwhelm  with  mortifica 
tion  a  young  fellow  of  the  present  day.  In  such 
a  case,  if  a  pretty  sister  made  one  of  the  family 
group,  it  would  add  materially  to  the  interest  felt 
in  the  new-comer.  There  may  be  as  much  sus- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  3 

ceptibility  in  the  collegian  of  the  present  time, 
but  we  had  a  rather  more  naive  way  of  show 
ing  it. 

The  stage-coach  gave  better  opportunities  for 
travellers  to  become  acquainted  with  each  other 
than  are  afforded  by  the  modern  railway-car. 
Some  old  men  will  recollect  the  mail-stage  for 
merly  plying  between  Boston  and  Brunswick 
(Maine),  drawn  by  four  strong,  spirited  horses, 
and  bowling  along  at  the  average  speed  of 
ten  miles  an  hour.  The  exhilarating  pace,  the 
smooth  roads,  and  the  juxtaposition  of  the  in 
siders  tended,  in  a  high  degree,  to  the  promo 
tion  of  enjoyment  and  good-fellowship,  which 
might  ripen  into  lasting  friendship. 

Among  the  passengers  in  one  of  these  coaches 
in  the  summer  of  1821  were  Franklin  Pierce, 
Jonathan  Cilley,  Alfred  Mason,  and  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne — the  last-named  from  Salem,  the  oth 
ers  from  New  Hampshire.  Pierce  had  already 
spent  his  freshman  year  at  Bowdoin  College, 
which  institution  his  companions  were  on  their 
way  to  enter. 

This  chance  association  was  the  beginning  of 
a  life-long  friendship  between  Pierce,  Cilley,  and 
Hawthorne ;  and  it  led  to  Mason  and  Hawthorne 
becoming  chums.  There  was  no  great  congeni 
ality  between  the  two  room-mates,  owing  partly 
to  their  joining  rival  societies,  but  more  to  the 


4  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

dissimilarity  in  their  tastes  and  habits.  Both, 
however,  were  well-bred  and  amiable,  and  they 
lived  together  harmoniously  for  two  years. 

A  slight  acquaintance  with  Mason  led  me  to 
call  at  their  rooms,  and  there  I  first  met  Haw 
thorne.  He  interested  me  greatly  at  once,  and 
a  friendship  then  began  which,  for  the  forty- 
three  years  of  his  subsequent  life,  was  never  for 
a  moment  chilled  by  indifference  nor  clouded  by 
doubt.  Though  our  paths  in  life,  like  our  char-- 
acters,  were  widely  different,  our  friendship  never 
wavered  till  the  sad  end  came. 


Hawthorne  was  a  slender  lad,  having  a  massive 
head,  with  dark,  brilliant,  and  most  expressive 
eyes,  heavy  eyebrows,  and  a  profusion  of  dark 
hair.  For  his  appearance  at  that  time  the  in 
quirer  must  rely  wholly  upon  the  testimony  of 
friends ;  for,  I  think,  no  portrait  of  him  as  a  lad 
is  extant.  On  one  occasion,  in  our  senior  year, 
the  class  wished  to  have  their  profiles  cut  in  sil 
houette  by  a  wandering  artist  of  the  scissors,  and 
interchanged  by  all  the  thirty-eight.  Hawthorne 
disapproved  the  proposed  plan,  and  steadily  re 
fused  to  go  into  the  Class  Golgotha,  as  he  styled 
the  dismal  collection.  I  joined  him  in  this  freak, 
and  so  our  places  were  left  vacant.  I  now  re 
gret  the  whim,  since  even  a  moderately  correct 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  5 

outline  of  his  features  as  a  youth  would,  at  this 
day,  be  interesting. 

Hawthorne's  figure  was  somewhat  singular, 
owing  to  his  carrying  his  head  a  little  on  one 
side ;  but  his  walk  was  square  and  firm,  and  his 
manner  self-respecting  and  reserved.  A  fashiona 
ble  boy  of  the  present  day  might  have  seen  some 
thing  to  amuse  him  in  the  new  student's  appear 
ance  ;  but  had  he  indicated  this  he  would  have 
rued  it,  for  Hawthorne's  clear  appreciation  of  the 
social  proprieties  and  his  great  physical  courage 
would  have  made  it  as  unsafe  to  treat  him  with 
discourtesy  then  as  at  any  later  time. 

Though  quiet  and  most  amiable,  he  had  great 
pluck  and  determination.  I  remember  that  in 
one  of  our  convivial  meetings  we  had  the  laugh 
upon  him  for  some  cause,  an  occurrence  so  rare 
that  the  bantering  was  carried  too  far.  After 
bearing  it  awhile,  Hawthorne  singled  out  the  one 
among  us  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  the 
best  pugilist,  and  in  a  few  words  quietly  told  him 
that  he  would  not  permit  the  rallying  to  go  far 
ther.  His  bearing  was  so  resolute,  and  there  was 
so  much  of  danger  in  his  eye,  that  no  one  after 
wards  alluded  to  the  offensive  subject  in  his 
presence.  This  characteristic  was  notably  dis 
played  several  years  later,  when  a  lady  incited 
him  to  quarrel  with  one  of  his  best  friends  on 
account  of  a  groundless  pique  of  hers.  He  went 


6  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

to  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  challenging  the 
gentleman,  and  it  was  only  after  ample  explana 
tions  had  been  made,  showing  that  his  friend  had 
behaved  with  entire  honor,  that  Pierce  and  Cilley, 
who  were  his  advisers,  could  persuade  him  to  be 
satisfied  without  a  fight.  The  lady  had  appealed 
to  him  to  redress  her  fancied  wrongs,  and  he  was 
too  chivalrous  to  decline  the  service. 

Hawthorne,  with  rare  strength  of  character,  had 
yet  a  gentleness  and  an  unselfishness  which  en 
deared  him  greatly  to  his  friends.  He  was  a  gen 
tleman  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  and  he  was 
always  manly,  cool,  self-poised,  and  brave.  He 
was  neither  morose  nor  sentimental ;  and,  though 
taciturn,  was  invariably  cheerful  with  his  chosen 
friends;  and  there  was  much  more  of  fun  and 
frolic  in  his  disposition  than  his  published  writ 
ings  indicate. 


CHAPTER   II. 

HAWTHORNE  dedicated  but  two  of  his  books 
to  friends — "Our  Old  Home"  to  ex-President 
Pierce,  in  1863  ;  and  "The  Snow  Image"  to  my 
self,  in  1850. 

In  the  preface  to  the  last  he  gives  some  pleas 
ant  glimpses  of  his  college  life,  which  present  a 
better  picture  of  his  lighter  occupations  than  can 
be  found  elsewhere;  and  it  maybe  interesting  to 
the  admirers  of  his  writings  to  have  some  of  the 
statements  in  the  following  extract  from  that 
preface  amplified  and  explained  by  one  who  was 
familiar  with  the  scenes  and  incidents  to  which 
he  refers. 

In  that  dedication  he  says : 

"  Be  all  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  ques 
tion  of  the  propriety  of  my  inscribing  this  volume 
of  earlier  and  later  stories  to  you,  and  pausing 
here  a  few  moments  to  speak  of  them  as  friend 
speaks  to  friend ;  still  being  cautious,  however, 
that  the  public  and  the  critics  shall  overhear 
nothing  which  we  care  about  concealing.  On 
you,  if  on  no  other  person,  I  am  entitled  to  rely 


8  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

to  sustain  the  position  of  my  dedicatee.  If  any 
body  is  responsible  for  my  being  at  this  day  an 
author,  it  is  yourself.  I  know  not  whence  your 
faith  came,  but  while  we  were  lads  together  at  a 
country  college,  gathering  blueberries  in  study 
hours  under  those  tall,  academic  pines,  or  watch 
ing  the  great  logs  as  they  tumbled  along  the  cur 
rent  of  the  Androscoggin,  or  shooting  pigeons  or 
gray  squirrels  in  the  woods,  or  bat-fowling  in  the 
summer  twilight,  or  catching  trout  in  that  shad 
owy  little  stream  which,  I  suppose,  is  still  wander 
ing  riverward  through  the  forest,  though  you  and 
I  will  never  cast  a  line  in  it  again ;  two  idle  lads, 
in  short  (as  we  need  not  fear  to  acknowledge 
now),  doing  a  hundred  things  that  the  Faculty 
never  heard  of,  or  else  it  would  have  been  the 
worse  for  us — still,  it  was  your  prognostic  of  your 
friend's  destiny  that  he  was  to  be  a  writer  of  fic 
tion.  And  a  fiction-monger  he  became  in  due 
season.  But  was  there  ever  such  a  weary  delay 
in  obtaining  the  slightest  recognition  from  the 
public  as  in  my  case  ?  I  sat  down  by  the  way 
side  of  life,  like  a  man  under  enchantment,  and  a 
shrubbery  sprang  up  around  me,  and  the  bushes 
grew  to  be  saplings,  and  the  saplings  became 
trees,  until  no  exit  appeared  possible  through  the 
entangling  depths  of  my  obscurity.  And  there, 
perhaps,  I  should  be  sitting  at  this  moment,  with 
the  moss  on  the  imprisoning  tree-trunks,  and  the 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 


yellow  leaves  of  more  than  a  score  of  autumns  / 
piled  above  me,  if  it  had  not  been  for  you.  For 
it  was  through  your  interposition — and  that,  more 
over,  unknown  to  himself — that  your  early  friend 
was  brought  before  the  public  somewhat  more 
prominently  than  theretofore  in  the  first  volume 
of  '  Twice-Told  Tales.'  Not  a  publisher  in  Amer 
ica,  I  presume,  would  have  thought  well  enough 
of  my  forgotten  or  never-noticed  stories  to  risk 
the  expense  of  print  and  paper ;  nor  do  I  say 
this  with  any  purpose  of  casting  odium  on  the 
respectable  fraternity  of  booksellers  for  their 
blindness  to  my  wonderful  merit.  To  confess 
the  truth,  I  doubted  of  the  public  recognition 
quite  as  much  as  they  could  do.  So  much  the 
more  generous  was  your  confidence ;  and  know 
ing,  as  I  do,  that  it  was  founded  on  old  friend 
ship  rather  than  cold  criticism,  I  value  it  only  the 
more  for  that. 

"  So  now,  when  I  turn  back  upon  my  path, 
lighted  by  a  transitory  gleam  of  public  favor,  to 
pick  up  a  few  articles  which  were  left  out  of  my 
former  collections,  I  take  pleasure  in  making 
them  the  memorial  of  our  very  long  and  un 
broken  connection." 


Formerly  the   college   grounds  and   the   land 
adjoining  included  a  great  area  of  pine  forest, 


10  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

with  blueberry  bushes  and  other  shrubs  for  its 
undergrowth,  and  with  foot-paths  running  de 
viously  for  miles  under  the  shady  trees,  where, 
in  their  season,  squirrels  and  wild  pigeons  might 
be  found  in  sufficient  numbers  to  afford  good 
sport.  The  woodland  gave  a  charmingly  secluded 
retreat,  and  imparted  a  classic  aspect  to  the  other 
wise  tame  scenery  of  the  Brunswick  Plains.  Un 
happily,  in  later  years  a  public  road  was  made 
between  the  campus  and  the/quiet  old  graveyard, 
and  a  street  was  opened  on  another  side,  so  that 
the  grove  has  been  sadly  circumscribed.  I  am 
sorry  to  add  that  many  of  those  "  tall  academic 
pines  "  have  been  cut  down,  leaving  only  their 
stumps  to  tell  of  their  former  existence  and  their 
destruction.  The  beauty  of  these  woods  made 
such  an  impression  upon  Longfellow's  poetical 
mind  that — fifty  years  later — in  addressing  the 
few  remaining  members  of  our  class,  he  thus 
apostrophized  the  woods  he  so  well  remembered: 

"  Ye  groves  of  pine, 
That  once  were  mine,  but  are  no  longer  mine." 


In  our  day  one  could  wander  for  miles  through 
this  forest  without  meeting  a  person  (except  a 
stray  student  or  two)  or  hearing  a  sound  other 
than  the  occasional  chatter  of  a  squirrel,  the  song 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  II 

of  a  bird,  or  the  sighing  of  the  wind  through  the 
branches  overhead. 

By  crossing  the  road  leading  to  Bath,  a  town 
nine  miles  away,  one  came  into  another  division 
of  the  pine  woods,  where  the  sandy  soil  was  not 
so  level,  and  through  which  ran  the  "  shadowy 
little  stream  "  that,  after  traversing  the  main  street 
of  the  village  and  skirting  the  small  elevation  near 
Professor  Cleveland's  house,  made  its  way  to  the 
river,  a  mile  or  so  below  the  falls  of  the  Andros- 
cqggin. 

*•  In  this  brook  we  often  fished  for  the  small  trout 
that  were  to  be  found  there  ;  but  the  main  charm 
of  those  outings  was  in  the  indolent  loitering  along 
the  low  banks  of  the  little  stream,  listening  to  its 
murmur  or  to  the  whispering  of  the  overhanging 
pines. 

There  was  one  favorite  spot  in  a  little  ravine, 
where  a  copious  spring  of  clear  cold  water  gushed 
out  from  the  sandy  bank  and  joined  the  larger 
stream.  This  was  the  Paradise  Spring,  which 
deserves  much  more  than  its  present  celebrity  for 
the  absolute  purity  of  its  waters.  Of  late  years 
the  brook  has  been  better  known  as  a  favorite 
haunt  of  the  great  romance  writer,  and  it  is  now 
often  called  the  Hawthorne  Brook. 


Another  locality,  above  the  bridge,  afforded 


12  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

an  occasional  stroll  through  the  fields  and  by 
the  river.  There,  in  spring,  we  used  to  linger  for 
hours  to  watch  the  giant  pine-logs  (for  there  were 
giants  in  those  days)  from  the  far-off  forests,  float 
ing  by  hundreds  in  the  stream  until  they  came  to 
the  falls;  then,  balancing  for  a  moment  on  the 
brink,  they  plunged  into  the  foamy  pool  below. 
Those  who  have  seen  such  huge  tree-trunks,  each 
possessing  a  certain  individuality,  approach  in 
groups  or  singly,  and  disappear,  will  understand 
why  it  was  so  fascinating  to  "watch  the  great 
logs  as  they  tumbled  along  the  current." 


The  Androscoggin  River,  one  of  the  largest  in 
New  England,  bounds  the  village  on  the  north, 
while  on  the  opposite  side,  and  two  or  three  miles 
distant,  lies  Maquoit  Bay  (an  inlet  of  the  beauti 
ful  Casco  Bay),  which  afforded  a  genuine  marine 
view,  vulgarized  though  it  was  by  the  dilapidated 
wharf  and  the  two  or  three  melancholy  sloops  that 
plied  between  this  point  and  Portland,  laden  with 
lumber  and  firewood.  A  trip  in  one  of  these 
coasters  is  said  to  have  inspired  a  high  officer  of 
the  college  with  the  beneficent  idea  of  writing  a 
book  of  "  Songs  for  Sailors."  Though  the  little 
volume  fell  still-born  from  the  press,  a  few  cop 
ies  escaped,  and  gave  occasion  for  great  fun  to 
the  irreverent  youngsters,  who  parodied  it  with- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  13 

out  mercy.  I  can  only  rescue  for  a  brief  hour 
from  oblivion  the  initial  stanza  of  the  first  poem  in 
the  book,  and  here  offer  it  as  a  "  specimen  brick"  : 

' '  All  you  who  would  be  seamen 

Must  bear  a  valiant  heart, 
And  when  you  come  upon  the  sea 

You  must  not  think  to  start  ; 
Nor  once  to  be  faint-hearted 

In  hail,  rain,  wind,  or  snow  ; 
Nor  to  think  for  to  shrink 

When  the  stormy  winds  do  blow." 

In  process  of  time  it  was  my  fortune  to  "  come 
upon  the  sea,"  and  I  experienced  the  full  force  of 
"hail,  rain,  wind,  or  snow  "on  several  occasions 
— notably  in  the  Portsmouth,  beating  round  Cape 
Horn  in  a  wild,  wintry  gale  ;  and  again  in  the  Sar 
atoga,  in  a  blinding  storm  of  snow  and  sleet,  em 
bayed  off  the  coast  of  New  Hampshire,  and  only 
saved  from  total  shipwreck  by  cutting  away  the 
masts  and  anchoring  on  a  rocky  lee-shore.  I 
take  shame  upon  myself  for  not  recalling,  then 
and  there,  those  appropriate  and  inspiriting  lines. 

To  this  little  bay  within  a  bay  we  occasionally 
resorted,  but  the  tiresome  walk  over  the  sandy 
road  deprived  the  excursions  of  half  their  pleas 
ure. 

The  bay  and  the  rapid  river  gave  to  the  flat 
region  adjacent  to  the  college  its  only  picturesque 
features.  Of  these  Longfellow  wrote  : 


14  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  Thou  river,  widening  through  the  meadows  green 
To  the  vast  sea,  so  near  and  yet  unseen  !" 


Another  of  our  favorite  strolls  was  in  a  sparse 
ly  settled  street  by  the  riverside.  There,  after 
tea,  Hawthorne  and  I  often  walked,  silent  or 
conversing,  according  to  the  humor  of  the  hour. 
These  rambles  sometimes  ended  at  the  unpainted 
cottage  of  an  old  fortune-teller  who,  from  the  tea- 
leaves  in  a  cracked  cup  or  from  a  soiled  pack 
of  cards,  evoked  our  respective  destinies.  She 
always  gave  us  brilliant  futures,  in  which  the 
most  attractive  of  the  promised  gifts  were  abun 
dance  of  gold  and  great  wealth  of  wives.  Lovely 
beings  these  wives  of  destiny  were  sure  to  be, 
some  of  whom  the  old  crone  prophesied  would 
be  "  dark-complected  "  and  others  "  light-com 
plected,"  but  all  surpassingly  beautiful.  These 
blessings,  and  more,  she  predicted  for  so  small 
a  silver  coin  that,  though  we  were  her  best  pa 
trons,  our  modest  stock  of  pocket-money  was  not 
inconveniently  diminished  by  her  fees. 

We  were  fully  repaid  for  the  outlay  by  the  fun 
of  the  hoffr ;  but,  to  the  discredit  of  the  prophet 
ess,  it  must  be  said  that  the  gold  never  came  to 
us,  but  to  each  a  very  happy  marriage  without 
the  dangerous  procession  of  blondes  and  bru 
nettes.  And  it  was  an  added  tie  between  us 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  1 5 

that  each  had  the  highest  appreciation  of  the 
many  excellent  qualities  of  his  friend's  wife. 

A  few  years  since  I  revisited  the  spot  where 
the  sibyl  once  had  lived ;  but,  alas !  only  to  find 
that  her  house  was  gone,  and  that  a  railway-track 
had  usurped  its  former  site. 


In  our  long  evening  walks,  especially  when  dis 
cussing  the  probable  future  of  each,  Hawthorne 
was  less  reserved  than  at  other  times.  On  such 
occasions  I  always  foretold  his  success  if  he 
should  choose  literature  as  a  profession.  He  lis 
tened  without  assenting,  but,  as  he  told  me  long 
afterwards,  he  was  cheered  and  strengthened  in 
his  subsequent  career  by  my  enthusiastic  faith  in 
his  literary  powers. 

The  professors  and  students  all  acknowledged 
his  superiority  in  Latin  and  English  composition, 
yet  to  me  he  insisted  that  he  could  never  bring" 
himself  into  accord  with  the  general  reading  pub 
lic,  nor  make  himself  sufficiently  understood  by 
it  to  gain  anything  more  than  a  beggarly  support 
as  an  author.  It  was  this  distrust  of  being  right 
fully  appreciated  that,  for  so  many  years,  prevent 
ed  him  from  taking  that  rank  among  the  foremost 
writers  of  America  which  scholars  and  critics  now 
concede  to  him. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  class  of  1825  became  distinguished  in  the- 
annals  of  Bowdoin  for  those  of  its  graduates  of 
that  year  who  ultimately  attained  high  rank  in' 
literature,  theology,  and  politics. 

Though  the  general  reader  may  care  little  for 
any  notice  of  the  different  individuals  of  this  class, 
Bowdoin  men  will  probably  be  interested  in  some 
account  of  its  more  noticeable  members. 

One  of  the  youngest  was  Henry  W.  Longfellow, 
who  entered  college  when  only  fourteen.  He  had 
decided  personal  beauty  and  most  attractive  man 
ners.  He  was  frank,  courteous,  and  affable,  while 
morally  he  was  proof  against  the  temptations  that 
beset  lads  on  first  leaving  the  salutary  restraints 
of  home.  He  was  diligent,  conscientious,  and 
most  attentive  to  all  his  college  duties,  whether  in 
the  recitation-room,  the  lecture-hall,  or  the  chapel. 
The  word  "  student "  best  expresses  his  literary 
habit,  and  in  his  intercourse  with  all  he  was  con 
spicuously  the  gentleman. 

His  studious  habits  and  attractive  mien  soon 
led  the  professors  to  receive  him  into  their  soci- 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  17 

there  could  apparently  be  no  anecdote  that 
was  not  on  the  whole  to  his  honor.  If  he 
had  come  into  a  room  at  any  moment,  peo 
ple  might  have  said  frankly,  "  Of  course  we 
were  telling  stones  about  you  !"  As  con 
sciences  go,  in  London,  the  general  con 
science  would  have  been  good.  Moreover, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  imagine 
his  taking  such  a  tribute  otherwise  than 
amiably,  for  he  was  always  as  unperturbed 
as  an  actor  with  the  right  cue.  He  had 
never  in  his  life  needed  the  prompter — his 
very  embarrassments  had  been  rehearsed. 
For  myself,  when  he  was  talked  about  I  al 
ways  had  an  odd  impression  that  we  were 
speaking  of  the  dead — it  was  with  that  pe 
culiar  accumulation  of  relish.  His  reputa 
tion  was  a  kind  of  gilded  obelisk,  as  if  he 
had  been  buried  beneath  it ;  the  body  of 
legend  and  reminiscence,  of  which  he  was 
to  be  the  subject,  had  crystallized  in  ad 
vance. 

This  ambiguity  sprang,  I  suppose,  from 
the  fact  that  the  mere  sound  of  his  name 
and  air  of  his  person,  the  general  expecta 
tion  he  created,  were,  somehow,  too  exalted 


18  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

to  be  verified.  The  experience  of  his  ur 
banity  always  came  later ;  the  prefigiire- 
ment,  the  legend  paled  before  the  reality. 
I  remember  that  on  the  evening  I  refer  to 
the  reality  was  particularly  operative.  The 
handsomest  man  of  his  period  could  never 
have  looked  better,  and  he  sat  among  us 
like  a  bland  conductor  controlling  by  an 
harmonious  play  of  arm  an  orchestra  still  a 
little  rough.  He  directed  the  conversation 
by  gestures  as  irresistible  as  they  were 
vague ;  one  felt  as  if  without  him  it  wouldn't 
have  had  anything  to  call  a  tone.  This  was 
essentially  what  he  contributed  to  any  oc 
casion —  what  he  contributed  above  all  to 
English  public  life.  He  pervaded  it,  he 
colored  it,  he  embellished  it,  and  without 
him  it  would  scarcely  have  had  a  vocabu 
lary  ;  certainly  it  would  not  have  had  a 
style,  for  a  style  was  what  it  had  in  having 
Lord  Mellifont.  He  was  a  style.  I  was 
freshly  struck  with  it  as,  in  the  salle  a  man 
ger  of  the  little  Swiss  inn,  we  resigned  our 
selves  to  inevitable  veal.  Confronted  with 
his  form  (I  must  parenthesize  that  it  was 
not  confronted  much),  Clare  Vawdrey's  talk 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  IQ 

suggested  the  reporter  contrasted  with  the 
bard.  It  was  interesting  to  watch  the  shock 
of  characters  from  which,  of  an  evening,  so 
much  would  be  expected.  There  was,  how 
ever,  no  concussion — it  was  all  muffled  and 
minimized  in  Lord  Mellifont's  tact.  It  was 
rudimentary  with  him  to  find  the  solution 
of  such  a  problem  in  playing  the  host,  as 
suming  responsibilities  which  carried  with 
them  their  sacrifice.  He  had,  indeed,  never 
been  a  guest  in  his  life ;  he  was  the  host, 
the  patron,  the  moderator  at  every  board. 
If  there  was  a  defect  in  his  manner  (and  I 
suggest  it  under  my  breath),  it  was  that  he 
had  a  little  more  art  than  any  conjunction- 
even  the  most  complicated — could  possibly 
require.  At  any  rate,  one  made  one's  re 
flections  in  noticing  how  the  accomplished 
peer  handled  the  situation,  and  how  the 
sturdy  man  of  letters  was  unconscious  that 
the  situation  (and  least  of  all  he  himself  as 
part  of  it)  was  handled.  Lord  Mellifont 
poured  forth  treasures  of  tact,  and  Clare 
Vawdrey  never  dreamed  he  was  doing  it. 

Vawdrey  had  no  suspicion  of  any  such 
precaution,  even  when  Blanche  Aclney  asked 


20  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

him  if  he  saw  yet  their  third  act — an  inqui 
ry  into  which  she  introduced  a  subtlety  of 
her  own.  She  had  a  theory  that  he  was  to 
write  her  a  play,  and  that  the  heroine,  if  he 
would  only  do  his  duty,  would  be  the  part 
for  Which  she  had  immemorially  longed. 
She  was  forty  years  old  (this  could  be  no 
secret  to  those  who  had  admired  her  from 
the  first),  and  she  could  now  reach  out  her 
hand  and  touch  her  uttermost  goal.  This 
gave  a  kind  of  tragic  passion — perfect  actress 
of  comedy  as  she  was — to  her  desire  not  to 
miss  the  great  thing.  The  years  had  passed, 
and  still  she  had  missed  it ;  none  of  the 
things  she  had  done  was  the  thing  she  had 
dreamed  of,  so  that  at  present  there  was  no 
more  time  to  lose.  This  was  the  canker  in 
the  rose,  the  ache  beneath  the  smile.  It 
made  her  touching — made  her  sadness  even 
sweeter  than  her  laughter.  She  had  done 
the  old  English  and  the  new  French,  and 
had  charmed  her  generation ;  but  she  was 
haunted  by  the  vision  of  a  bigger  chance, 
of  something  truer  to  the  conditions  that 
lay  near  her.  She  was  tired  of  Sheridan 
and  she  hated  Bowdler ;  she  called  for  a 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  21 

canvas  of  a  finer  grain.  The  worst  of  it,  to 
my  sense,  was  that  she  would  never  extract 
her  modern  comedy  from  the  great  mature 
novelist,  who  was  as  incapable  of  producing 
it  as  he  was  of  threading  a  needle.  She 
coddled  him,  she  talked  to  him,  she  made 
love  to  him,  as  she  frankly  proclaimed;  but 
she  dwelt  in  illusions — she  would  have  to 
live  and  die  with  Bowdler. 

It  is  difficult  to  be  cursory  over  this  charm 
ing  woman,  who  was  beautiful  without  beau 
ty  and  complete  with  a  dozen  deficiencies. 
The  perspective  of  the  stage  made  her  over, 
and  in  society  she  was  like  the  model  off 
the  pedestal.  She  was  the  picture  walking 
about,  which  to  the  artless  social  mind  was 
a  perpetual  surprise— a  miracle.  People 
thought  she  told  them  the  secrets  of  the 
pictorial  nature,  in  return  for  which  they 
gave  her  relaxation  and  tea.  She  told  them 
nothing  and  she  drank  the  tea ;  but  they 
had,  all  the  same,  the  best  of  the  bargain. 
Vawdrey  was  really  at  work  on  a  play ;  but 
if  he  had  begun  it  because  he  liked  her,  I 
think  he  let  it  drag  for  the  same  reason. 
He  secretly  felt  the  atrocious  difficulty — 


22  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

knew  that  from  his  hand  the  finished  piece 
would  have  received  no  active  life.  At  the 
same  time,  nothing  could  be  more  agreeable 
than  to  have  such  a  question  open  with 
Blanche  Adney,  and  from  time  to  time  he 
put  something  very  good  into  the  play.  If 
he  deceived  Mrs.  Adney,  it  was  only  because 
in  her  despair  she  was  determined  to  be  de 
ceived.  To  her  question  about  their  third 
act  he  replied  that  before  dinner  he  had 
written  a  magnificent  passage. 

"Before  dinner?"  I  said.  "Why,  cher 
maitre,  before  dinner  you  were  holding  us 
all  spellbound  on  the  terrace.1' 

My  words  were  a  joke,  because  I  thought 
his  had  been  ;  but  for  the  first  time  that  I 
could  remember  I  perceived  a  certain  con 
fusion  in  his  face.  He  looked  at  me  hard, 
throwing  back  his  head  quickly,  the  least  bit 
like  a  horse  who  has  been  pulled  up  short. 
"  Oh,  it  was  before  that,"  he  replied,  nat 
urally  enough. 

"Before  that  you  were  playing  billiards 
with  me,"  Lord  Mellifont  intimated. 

"Then  it  must  have  been  yesterday," 
said  Vawdrey. 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  23 

But  he  was  in  a  tight  place.  "  You  told 
me  this  morning  you  did  nothing  yesterday," 
the  actress  objected. 

"  I  don't  think  I  really  know  when  I  do 
things."  Vawdrey  looked  vaguely,  without 
helping  himself,  at  a  dish  that  was  offered 
him. 

"It's  enough  if  we  know,"  smiled  Lord 
Mellifont. 

"  I  don't  believe  you've  written  a  line," 
said  Blanche  Adney. 

"  I  think  I  could  repeat  you  the  scene." 
Vawdrey  helped  himself  to  haricots  verts. 

"  Oh,  do  !  oh,  do  !"  two  or  three  of  us 
cried. 

"  After  dinner,  in  the  salon  ;  it  will  be  an 
immense  regal"  Lord  Mellifont  declared. 

"  I'm  not  sure,  but  I'll  try,"  Vawdrey 
went  on. 

"  Oh,  you  lovely  man !"  exclaimed  the 
actress,  who  was  practising  Americanisms, 
being  resigned  even  to  an  American  com 
edy. 

"  But  there  must  be  this  condition,"  said 
Vawdrey:  "you  must  make  your  husband 
play."  " 


24  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

"  Play  while  you're  reading  ?     Never  !'' 

"  I've  too  much  vanity,"  said  Adney. 

Lord  Mellifont  distinguished  him.  "You 
must  give  us  the  overture  before  the  curtain 
rises.  That's  a  peculiarly  delightful  mo 
ment." 

"  I  sha'n't  read— I  shall  just  speak,"  said 
Vawdrey. 

"  Better  still ;  let  me  go  and  get  your 
manuscript,"  the  actress  suggested. 

Vawdrey  replied  that  the  manuscript 
didn't  matter ;  but  an  hour  later,  in  the  sa 
lon,  we  wished  he  might  have  had  it.  We 
sat  expectant,  still  under  the  spell  of  Ad- 
ney's  violin.  His  wife,  in  the  foreground 
on  an  ottoman,  was  all  impatience  and  pro 
file,  and  Lord  Mellifont,  in  the  chair  —  it 
was  always  the  chair,  Lord  Mellifont's — 
made  our  grateful  little  group  feel  like  a 
social  science  congress  or  a  distribution  of 
prizes.  Suddenly,  instead  of  beginning,  our 
tame  lion  began  to  roar  out  of  tune — he  had 
clean  forgotten  every  word.  He  was  very 
sorry,  but  the  lines  absolutely  wouldn't  come 
to  him ;  he  was  utterly  ashamed,  but  his 
memory  was  a  blank.  He  didn't  look  in 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  25 

the  least  ashamed  —  Vawdrey  had  never 
looked  ashamed  in  his  life ;  he  was  only 
imperturbably  and  merrily  natural.  He 
protested  that  he  had  never  expected  to 
make  such  a  fool  of  himself,  but  we  felt 
that  this  wouldn't  prevent  the  incident  from 
taking  its  place  among  his  jolliest  reminis 
cences.  It  was  only  we  who  were  humili 
ated,  as  if  he  had  played  us  a  premeditated 
trick.  This  was  an  occasion,  if  ever,  for 
Lord  Mellifont's  tact,  which  descended  on 
us  all  like  balm.  He  told  us,  in  his  charm 
ing,  artistic  way,  his  way  of  bridging  over 
arid  intervals  (he  had  a  debit — there  was 
nothing  to  approach  it  in  England  —  like 
the  actors  of  the  Comedie  Franchise),  of  his 
own  collapse  on  a  momentous  occasion,  the 
delivery  of  an  address  to  a  mighty  multi 
tude,  when,  rinding  he  had  forgotten  his 
memoranda,  he  fumbled  on  the  terrible  plat 
form,  the  cynosure  of  every  eye,  fumbled 
vainly  in  irreproachable  pockets  for  indis 
pensable  notes.  But  the  point  of  his  story 
was  finer  than  that  of  Vawdrey's  pleasantry; 
for  he  sketched  with  a  few  light  gestures  the 
brilliancy  of  a  performance  which  had  risen 


26  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

superior  to  embarrassment  —  had  resolved 
itself,  we  were  left  to  divine,  into  an  effort 
recognized  at  the  moment  as  not  absolutely 
a  blot  on  what  the  public  was  so  good  as  to 
call  his  reputation. 

"  Play  up — play  up  !"  cried  Blanche  Ad- 
ney,  tapping  her  husband,  and  remembering 
how,  on  the  stage,  a  contretemps  is  always 
drowned  in  music.  Adney  threw  himself 
upon  his  fiddle,  and  I  said  to  Clare  Vaw- 
drey  that  his  mistake  could  easily  be  cor 
rected  by  his  sending  for  the  manuscript. 
If  he  would  tell  me  where  it  was  I  would  im 
mediately  fetch  it  from  his  room.  To  this 
he  replied,  "  My  dear  fellow,  I'm  afraid  there 
is  no  manuscript." 

"  Then  you've  not  written  anything  ?" 

"  I'll  write  it  to-morrow." 

"  Ah,  you  trifle  with  us  !"  I  said,  in  much 
mystification. 

Vawdrey  hesitated  an  instant.  "  If  there 
is  anything,  you'll  find  it  on  my  table." 

At  this  moment  one  of  the  others  spoke 
to  him,  and  Lady  Mellifont  remarked  audi 
bly,  as  if  to  correct  gently  our  want  of  con 
sideration,  that  Mr.  Adney  was  playing  some- 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  27 

thing  very  beautiful.  I  had  noticed  before 
that  she  appeared  extremely  fond  of  music ; 
she  always  listened  to  it  in  a  hushed  trans 
port.  Vawdrey's  attention  was  drawn  away, 
but  it  didn't  seem  to  me  that  the  words  he 
had  just  dropped  constituted  a  definite  per 
mission  to  go  to  his  room.  Moreover,  I 
wanted  to  speak  to  Blanche  Adney ;  I  had 
something  to  ask  her.  I  had  to  await  my 
chance,  however,  as  we  remained  silent 
awhile  for  her  husband,  after  which  the 
conversation  became  general.  It  was  our 
habit  to  go  to  bed  early,  but  there  was  still 
a  little  of  the  evening  left.  Before  it  quite 
waned  I  found  an  opportunity  to  tell  the 
actress  that  Vawdrey  had  given  me  leave  to 
put  my  hand  on  his  manuscript.  She  ad 
jured  me,  by  all  I  held  sacred,  to  bring  it 
immediately,  to  give  it  to  her ,  and  her  in 
sistence  was  proof  against  my  suggestion 
that  it  would  now  be  too  late  for  him  to  be 
gin  to  read  ;  besides  which,  the  charm  was 
broken— the  others  wouldn't  care.  It  was 
not  too  late  for  her  to  begin  ;  therefore  I 
was  to  possess  myself,  without  more  delay, 
of  the  precious  pages.  I  told  her  she  should 


28  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

be  obeyed  in  a  moment,  but  I  wanted  her 
first  to  satisfy  my  just  curiosity.  What  had 
happened  before  dinner,  while  she  was  on 
the  hills  with  Lord  Mellifont  ? 

"  How  do  you  know  anything  happened  ?" 

"  I  saw  it  in  your  face  when  you  came 
back." 

"  And  they  call  me  an  actress  !"  cried  Mrs. 
Adney. 

"What  do  they  call  me  ?"  I  inquired. 

"You're  a  searcher  of  hearts — that  frivo 
lous  thing,  an  observer." 

"  I  wish  you'd  let  an  observer  write  you  a 
play !"  I  broke  out. 

"  People  don't  care  for  what  you  write  ; 
you'd  break  any  run  of  luck." 

"  Well,  I  see  plays  all  around  me,"  I  de 
clared  ;  "  the  air  is  full  of  them  to-night." 

"  The  air  ?  Thank  you  for  nothing  !  I 
only  wish  my  table-drawers  were." 

"  Did  he  make  love  to  you  on  the  glacier?" 
I  went  on. 

She  stared  ;  then  broke  into  the  gradu 
ated  ecstasy  of  her  laugh.  "  Lord  Mellifont, 
poor  dear?  What  a  funny  place  !  It  would 
indeed  be  the  place  for  our  love  !" 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  29 

"  Did  he  fall  into  a  crevasse  ?"  I  con 
tinued. 

Blanche  Adney  looked  at  me  again  as  she 
had  done  for  an  instant  when  she  came  up, 
before  dinner,  with  her  hands  full  of  flowers. 
"I  don't  know  into  what  he  fell.  I'll  tell 
you  to-morrow." 

"  He  did  come  down,  then  ?" 

"  Perhaps  he  went  up,"  she  laughed.  "  It's 
really  strange  !" 

"  All  the  more  reason  you  should  tell  me 
to-night." 

"  I  must  think  it  over ;  I  must  puzzle  it 
out." 

"  Oh,  if  you  want  conundrums,  I'll  throw 
in  another,"  I  said.  "What's  the  matter 
with  the  master  ?" 

"  The  master  of  what  ?" 

"  Of  every  form  of  dissimulation.  Vaw- 
drey  hasn't  written  a  line." 

"  Go  and  get  his  papers,  and  we'll  see." 

"  I  don't  like  to  expose  him,"  I  said. 

"  Why  not,  if  I  expose  Lord  Mellifont  ?" 

"  Oh,  I'd  do  anything  for  that,"  I  con 
ceded.  "  But  why  should  Vawdrey  have 
made  a  false  statement  ?  It's  very  curious." 


30  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

"  It's  very  curious,"  Blanche  Adney  re 
peated,  with  a  musing  air  and  her  eyes  on 
Lord  Mellifont.  Then,  rousing  herself,  she 
added  :  "  Go  and  look  in  his  room." 

"  In  Lord  Mellifont's  ?" 

She  turned  to  me  quickly.  "T/iat  would 
be  a  way !" 

"  A  way  to  what  ?" 

"To  find  out— to  find  out !"  She  spoke 
gayly  and  excitedly,  but  suddenly  checked 
herself.  "  We're  talking  nonsense,"  she 
said. 

"  We're  mixing  things  up,  but  I'm  struck 
with  your  idea.  Get  Lady  Mellifont  to  let 
you." 

"  Oh,  she  has  looked  !"  Mrs.  Adney  mur 
mured,  with  the  oddest  dramatic  expression. 
Then,  after  a  movement  of  her  beautiful  up 
lifted  hand,  as  if  to  brush  away  a  fantastic 
vision,  she  exclaimed,  imperiously  :  "  Bring 
me  the  scene — bring  me  the  scene  !" 

"  I  go  for  it,"  I  answered;  "  but  don't  tell 
me  I  can't  write  a  play." 

She  left  me,  but  my  errand  was  arrested 
by  the  approach  of  a  lady  who  had  produced 
a  birthday-book — we  had  been  threatened 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE  3I 

with  it  for  several  evenings — and  who  did 
me  the  honor  to  solicit  my  autograph.  She 
had  been  asking  the  others,  and  she  couldn't 
decently  leave  me  out.  I  could  usually  re 
member  my  name,  but  it  always  took  me 
some  time  to  recall  my  date,  and  even  when 
I  had  done  so  I  was  never  very  sure.  I 
hesitated  between  two  days,  and  I  remarked 
to  my  petitioner  that  I  would  sign  on  both 
if  it  would  give  her  any  satisfaction.  She 
said  that  surely  I  had  been  born  only  once ; 
and  I  replied  of  course  that  on  the  day  I 
made  her  acquaintance  I  had  been  born 
again.  I  mention  the  feeble  joke  only  to 
show  that,  with  the  obligatory  inspection  of 
the  other  autographs,  we  gave  some  minutes 
to  this  transaction.  The  lady  departed  with 
her  book,  and  then  I  became  aware  that  the 
company  had  dispersed.  I  was  alone  in  the 
little  salon  that  had  been  appropriated  to 
our  use.  My  first  impression  was  one  of 
disappointment :  if  Vawdrey  had  gone  to 
bed  I  didn't  wish  to  disturb  him.  While  I 
hesitated,  however,  I  recognized  that  Vaw 
drey  had  not  gone  to  bed.  A  window  was 
open,  and  the  sound  of  voices  outside  came 


32  THE    PRIVATE    LIFE 

in  to  me ;  Blanche  was  on  the  terrace  with 
her  dramatist,  and  they  were  talking  about 
the  stars.  I  went  to  the  window  for  a 
glimpse  —  the  Alpine  night  was  splendid. 
My  friends  had  stepped  out  together ;  the 
actress  had  picked  up  a  cloak  ;  she  looked 
as  I  had  seen  her  look  in  the  wing  of  the 
theatre.  They  were  silent  awhile,  and  I 
heard  the  roar  of  a  neighboring  torrent.  I 
turned  back  into  the  room,  and  its  quiet 
lamplight  gave  me  an  idea.  Our  compan 
ions  had  dispersed — it  was  late  for  a  pas 
toral  country  —  and  we  three  should  have 
the  place  to  ourselves.  Clare  Vawdrey  had 
written  his  scene — it  was  magnificent ;  and 
his  reading  it  to  us  there,  at  such  an  hour, 
would  be  an  episode  intensely  memorable. 
I  would  bring  down  his  manuscript  and 
meet  the  two  with  it  as  they  came  in. 

I  quitted  the  salon  for  this  purpose ;  I 
had  been  in  Vawdrey's  room  and  knew  it 
was  on  the  second  floor,  the  last  in  a  long 
corridor.  A  minute  later  my  hand  was  on 
the  knob  of  his  door,  which  I  naturally 
pushed  open  without  knocking.  It  was 
equally  natural  that  in  the  absence  of  its 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  33 

than  with  Henry,  but  the  college  relations  of 
the  poet  and  the  romance  writer  were  always 
kindly,  and  led  to  a  strong  friendship  in  later  life. 


Hawthorne  was  not  studious  in  the  general  ac 
ceptation  of  the  term,  but  he  devoted  much  time 
to  miscellaneous  reading.  His  facility  for  ac 
quiring  knowledge  would,  with  little  labor,  have 
placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  his  class.  As  it 
was,  he  took  much  greater  interest  in  the  humani 
ties  than  in  the  more  abstruse  branches  of  the 
prescribed  course.  Mathematics  and  metaphys 
ics,  as  studies,  he  disliked  and  neglected,  to  his 
frequent  discredit  in  the  recitation-room  ;  but  the 
languages  were  attractive  and  pleasant.  Espe 
cially  did  he  like  the  Latin,  which  he  wrote  with 
great  ease  and  purity.  In  the  other  studies  of 
the  curriculum  he  stood  hardly  above  medioc 
rity,  and  in  declamation  he  was  literally  nowhere. 
He  never  declaimed  in  the  old  chapel,  as  the 
students  were  required  to  do  on  Wednesdays. 
Fines  and  admonitions  were  alike  powerless.  He 
would  not  declaim.  To  this  peculiarity  is  to  be 
attributed  his  failure  to  have  a  part  assigned  him 
in  the  Commencement  exercises  on  graduation, 
though  his  rank,  No.  18  in  a  class  of  thirty-eight, 
would  otherwise  have  entitled  him  to  one. 

He  told  me  that  when  twelve  or  thirteen  years 
3 


34  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

old,  on  some  occasion  in  play-hours,  he  went  upon 
a  stage  in  the  school-room  to  declaim.  Some 
larger  boys  ridiculed  him  and  pulled  him  down, 
which  so  mortified  and  enraged  him  that  he  was 
inspired  with  a  lasting  aversion  to  any  future 
effort  in  that  direction.  Nor  did  he  attempt  to 
speak  in  public  until  many  years  afterwards,  when, 
as  United  States  Consul  at  Liverpool,  he  made  a 
speech  at  a  civic  dinner,  of  which  he  wrote  me 
an  amusing  account.  He  was  more  exultant  at 
his  success  on  that  occasion  than  he  ever  seemed 
to  be  for  the  authorship  of  "  The  Scarlet  Letter." 

In  the  literary  aspirations  of  his  collegiate  life 
poetry  had  apparently  no  place.  Yet  some  small 
poems  of  his  —  written  before  entering  college, 
and  still  resting  in  my  memory — showed,  as  I 
thought,  considerable  merit.  Since,  however,  he 
refrained  from  writing  verses  afterwards,  one  can 
only  conjecture  what  his  success  would  have  been 
had  he  made  poetry  instead  of  prose  the  vehicle 
for  his  fancies. 

In  the  "  Biography,"  and  in  Mr.  Lathrop's 
"  Study,*'  it  appears  that,  while  a  young  boy,  he 
was  much  addicted  to  rhyming.  At  sixteen,  how 
ever,  he  wrote  his  sister,  "I  have  almost  given 
up  writing  poetry.  No  man  can  be  a  poet  and  a 
book-keeper  at  the  same  time."  This  was  writ 
ten  when  he  expected  to  become  a  merchant. 
For,  in  the  same  letter,  he  wrote,  "  I  do  not  think 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  35 

I  shall  ever  go  to  college.  I  cannot  bear  the 
thought  of  living  upon  Uncle  Robert  for  four 
years  longer.  How  happy  I  should  be  to  be  able 
to  say,  '  I  am  lord  of  myself.'  " 

The  world  may  well  bless  the  memory  of  "  Un 
cle  Robert,"  that  his  liberality  was  unfaltering, 
and  that  his  estimate  of  the  judicious  course  for 
his  nephew's  education  was  so  correct.  Little, 
though,  did  he  dream  of  the  inestimable  benefit 
he  was  bestowing  upon  all  English-speaking  peo 
ples  by  his  wise  expenditure  for  the  future  au 
thor's  training. 

Reverting  to  the  subject  of  poetry,  I  believe 
there  is  no  evidence  of  Hawthorne's  writing  any 
poetry  after  he  entered  college,  though  he  fre 
quently  quoted  it.  Apropos  to  his  ante-college 
versifying,  I  remember  that,  on  a  moonlight  even 
ing,  Hawthorne  and  I  were  leaning  over  the  rail 
ing  of  the  bridge  just  below  the  falls,  listening 
to  the  falling  water,  and  enjoying  the  beauties  of 
the  scene,  when  I  recited  some  passages  from 
the  colloquy  between  Lorenzo  and  Jessica  in  the 
"  Merchant  of  Venice."  Then  Hawthorne,  in  his 
deep,  musical  tones,  responded  with  the  following 
verses,  which  he  said  he  had  written  before  com 
ing  to  college : 

' '  We  are  beneath  the  dark  blue  sky, 
And  the  moon  is  shining  bright. 
Oh,  what  can  lift  the  soul  so  high 
As  the  glow  of  a  summer  night, 


36  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

When  all  the  gay  are  hushed  to  sleep, 
And  they  who  mourn  forget  to  weep 
Beneath  that  gentle  light  ? 

"  Is  there  no  holier,  happier  land 
-  Among  those  distant  spheres, 
Where  we  may  meet  that  shadow  band, 

The  dead  of  other  years, 
Where  all  the  day  the  moonbeams'rest, 
And  where  at  length  the  souls  are  blest 

Of  those  who  dwell  in  tears  ? 

"Oh,  if  the  happy  ever  leave 

The  bowers  of  bliss  on  high, 
To  cheer  the  hearts  of  those  who  grieve, 

And  wipe  the  tear-drop  dry, 
It  is  when  moonlight  sheds  its  ray, 
More  pure  and  beautiful  than  day, 

And  earth  is  like  the  sky." 

I  preserved  the  lines,  and  a  few  years  since 
gave  a  copy  to  Mr.  Lathrop,  who  published  them 
in  his  interesting  "  Study  of  Hawthorne." 

I  remember  also  another  little  poem  of  Haw 
thorne's,  which  I  wrote  down  soon  after  hearing 
it,  but  the  manuscript  was  lost.  It  ran  thus  : 

"  The  ocean  hath  its  silent  caves, 

Dark,  quiet,  and  alone; 
Though  there  be  fury  on  the  waves, 
Beneath  them  there  is  none. 

' '  The  awful  spirits  of  the  deep 

Hold  their  communion  there, 
And  there  are  those  for  whom  we  weep— 
The  young,  the  brave,  the  fair. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  37 

"  The  earth  hath  guilt,  the  earth  hath  care, 

Unquiet  are  its  graves, 
But  peaceful  sleep  is  ever  there 
Beneath  the  dark  blue  waves. 

"  Calmly  the  wearied  seamen  rest 

Beneath  their  own  blue  sea  ; 
The  ocean's  solitudes  are  blest, 
For  there  is  purity." 

This  little  poem  was  afterwards  set  to  music 
by  E.  L.  White. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HAWTHORNE,  previous  to  entering  college, 
lived  in  great  seclusion  with  his  mother  and  two 
sisters  at  their  home  in  Salem.  In  two  or  three 
flying  visits,  made  him  by  invitation  after  our 
graduation,  I  saw  no  evidence  of  narrow  circum 
stances  in  their  environment.  I  was  charmed 
with  the  quiet  and  refined  manners  of  Mrs. 
Hawthorne  and  with  the  pleasant  and  lady-like 
bearing  of  her  younger  daughter.  The  elder 
daughter — who  Hawthorne  often  said  had  more 
genius  than  himself— I  never  saw  until  after  his 
death. 

The  family  occupied  the  old  home  of  Mrs. 
Hawthorne's  father,  their  moderate  income  being 
sufficient  for  their  comfortable  support,  but  not 
for  the  son's  college  expenses.  These  had  been 
defrayed  by  his  maternal  uncle,  Robert  Manning, 
who  supplied  him  with  means  to  spend  as  liber 
ally  as  any  of  his  companions. 

In  these  days  of  more  costly  education  it  may 
interest  some  readers  to  know  the  simpler  col 
lege  expenses  of  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  A 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  39 

term  bill  of  my  own,  yellow  with  age,  dated 
May  23,  1823,  is  before  me,  and  contains  these 
items  : 

For  tuition $8  oo 

Chamber  rent 3  34 

Damages 45  • 

Average  damages 15' 

Sweeping  and  bed-making I   n  ' 

Library 50  • 

Monitor 05  ' 

Catalogues 08  v 

Bell ii. 

Reciting-room 25 

Chemical  lectures 25 

Fines 20 

Total $14  49 

The  fines  were  probably  for  absence  from  rec 
itations  ;  but  a  later  term  bill  shows  a  fine  of 
twenty-five  cents  for  "  unnecessary  walking  on 
the  Sabbath,"  a  charge  that  would  astonish  the 
father  of  any  collegian  of  the  present  day.  Could 
Hawthorne's  term  bill  of  corresponding  date  be 
found,  it  would  doubtless  show  that  he,  too,  was 
convicted  of  the  misdemeanor  of  taking  a  stroll 
after  our  compulsory  attendance  at  morning  and 
afternoon  services. 


In    a    corner   of    the    present    campus   stood 
"  Ward's  tavern  "  when   I  first  went  to  Bruns- 


40  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

wick.  Its  owner  had  recently  died,  and  was 
succeeded  in  his  vocation  by  his  daughter,  a 
maiden  of  perhaps  thirty  years — affable,  good- 
looking,  and  always  ready  to  give  moderate 
credit  for  the  little  suppers  and  other  comforts 
that  students  might  desire.  Her  house  was  the 
scene  of  many  social  gatherings;  but  at  some 
later  period  it  disappeared,  and  the  grass  of  the 
college  grounds  now  conceals  the  site  of  that 
once  most  convenient  inn.  There,  oftener  than 
elsewhere,  Hawthorne  indulged  in  the  usual  con 
vivialities  of  the  period ;  but  his  sedate  aspect 
and  quiet  manners  prevented  the  appearance  of 
any  excess,  even  within  the  limited  circle  of  his 
intimate  associates.  The  customary  pastimes 
included  card  -  playing  and  wine  -  drinking,  in 
which  he  joined  his  friends  through  good  fellow 
ship  ;  but  he  rarely  exceeded  the  bounds  of  mod 
eration — never  losing  more  money  than  he  could 
readily  pay,  and  never  imbibing  enough  to  ex 
pose  himself  to  remark.  He  could  drink  a  great 
deal  of  wine  without,  apparently,  being  affected 
by  it.  Neither  in  his  college  days  nor  afterwards 
did  I  ever  know  him  to  be  perceptibly  under  the 
influence  of  stimulants,  though  we  were  associ 
ated  in  many  convivial  scenes.  I  will  add  that, 
from  the  first  moment  of  our  acquaintance,  I 
never  knew  him  to  utter  an  unmanly  sentiment 
or  to  do  a  mean  or  unkind  act. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  41 

In  our  last  term,  after  the  parts  for  the  Com 
mencement  exercises  had  been  assigned,  it  ap 
peared  that  fourteen  of  the  thirty-eight  graduates 
of  the  year  were  not  to  have  the  privilege  of 
"  speaking  in  public  on  the  stage,"  though  their 
degree  of  A.B.  was  nevertheless  to  be  conferred. 
This  rear-guard  rallied  and  formed  "  The  Navy 
Club,"  so  called  for  some  occult  reason.  It  com 
prised  among  its  members  a  future  Congress 
man,  another  who  in  the  course  of  time  became 
a  reverend  D.D.,  Hawthorne,  and,  of  course,  the 
writer. 

Of  the  officers  elected,  the  D.D.  was  made 
Commodore,  Hawthorne  was  Commander,  myself 
Boatswain,  and  the  most  fun-loving  of  the  party 
was  designated  Chaplain.  Every  one  had  a  title, 
from  Commodore  to  Cook. 

The  weekly  suppers  at  Miss  Ward's  were  very 
jolly ;  and  some  of  the  class,  who,  by  reason  of 
superior  standing  as  scholars,  were  not  entitled 
to  membership  would  fain  have  joined  in  the 
merry  sessions  of  the  club,  but  they  were  not 
admitted. 

The  nightly  meetings  of  Commencement  week 
ended  this  drama,  as  well  as  many  others  of  more 
grave  import. 

The  river  near  by  gave  its  name  to  a  loo  club 
of  five  members.  One  died  early,  but  not  until 
he  had  achieved  political  fame  of  a  high  order; 


42  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

another  was  afterwards  a  wealthy  and  respected 
merchant ;  a  third  became  a  physician  and  settled 
in  the  West,  where  he  was  held  in  high  regard 
until  he  died,  thirty  years  ago.  Hawthorne  and 
the  writer  were  the  other  members  of  the  An- 
droscoggin  Club,  which  existed  about  two  years. 
The  stakes  played  for  were,  of  course,  small,  but 
the  golden  hours  then  lost  were  not  included  in 
the  account. 

That  Hawthorne  was  somewhat  addicted  to 
card-playing  quite  early  in  his  college  life  ap 
pears  from  a  letter  of  President  Allen  to  Mrs. 
Hawthorne,  May  29,  1822  (see  "  Study,"  p.  117), 
announcing  the  fact  that  her  son  had  that  day 
been  "  fined  fifty  cents  for  playing  cards  for 
money  last  term." 

That  dignitary  adds,  "  Perhaps  he  might  not 
have  gamed,  were  it  not  for  the  influence  of 
a  student  whom  we  have  dismissed  from  col 
lege." 

The  next  day  Hawthorne  himself  writes  his 
mother,  "All  the  card-players  in  college  have 
been  found  out— my  unfortunate  self  among  the 
number.  One  has  been  dismissed  from  college, 
two  suspended,  and  the  rest,  with  myself,  fined 
fifty  cents  each." 

By  good  fortune  I  was  not  caught  in  that 
grand  raid,  but  several  men  who  afterwards  at 
tained  eminence — e.  g.  a  U.  S.  Senator,  a  grave 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  43 

judge,  and  a  leading  physician — were  included, 
with  Hawthorne,  in  the  "  catch." 


It  may  be  interesting  to  Bowdoin  men  to  know 
where  Hawthorne  lived  while  in  college. 

At  first  he  and  Mason  boarded  at  Professor 
Newman's,  and  had  their  room  in  Maine  Hall, 
where  they  remained  until  the  building  was 
burned  in  March,  1822.  Fortunately  they  were 
upon  the  lower  floor,  so  they  easily  saved  their 
furniture  and  other  effects. 

Soon  afterwards  Hawthorne  wrote  his  sister, 
"  I  sustained  no  damage  by  the  fire  except  hav 
ing  my  coat  torn.  Luckily  it  happened  to  be  my 
old  one." 

After  this  enforced  removal  the  two  room-mates 
took  up  their  quarters  in  the  large  house  of  Mrs. 
Adams,  opposite  the  president's  house.  This 
most  estimable  lady — the  widow  of  a  leading  phy 
sician — had  been  left  with  two  charming  daugh 
ters  and  only  moderate  means  of  support.  Hence 
it  was  convenient,  as  it  was  in  accordance  with 
the  custom  of  the  place,  to  utilize  three  or  four 
rooms  in  her  large  house  by  renting  them  to 
students. 

A  year  or  two  later  I  occupied  a  room  in  the 
same  house,  and  we  incidentally  noticed,  with 
mild  interest,  the  attentions  a  young  medical  stu- 


44  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

dent  was  paying  to  the  elder  daughter  of  the 
house.  Soon  afterwards  they  married  and  went 
West. 

The  sequel  to  the  story  came  fifty-five  years 
later,  when  I  found  myself  at  table,  in  a  Wash 
ington  hotel,  with  a  dignified  Western  Represent 
ative  and  his  lady-like  wife  and  pretty  daughter. 
Their  name  had  a  familiar  sound,  and  soon  the 
fact  dawned  upon  me  that  I  was  talking  with  the 
son  of  my  old  Brunswick  friends,  in  the  person 
of  the  prominent  and  able  Colonel  Hatch,  of 
Missouri. 

The  college  youth  (now  a  gray-haired  veteran) 
and  the  young  maiden  (now  a  venerable  widow) 
who  had  bidden  good-by  in  1825  were  able,  in 
1880,  to  exchange  messages  of  regard  across 
half  a  continent. 

Returning  from  this  digression,  it  remains  only 
to  be  added  that,  after  Maine  Hall  had  been  re 
built  Hawthorne  and  Mason  returned  to  it,  and 
occupied  room  No.  19  in  the  sophomore  year. 

For  the  last  two  years  in  college,  Hawthorne 
roomed  alone  at  Mrs.  Dunning's,  directly  opposite 
Professor  Cleveland's  house,  where  also  we  both 
boarded.  The  cost  of  board  was  moderate,  and 
we  fared  satisfactorily  for  a  sum  that  would  now 
seem  inadequate,  and  even  mean.  Two  dollars  a 
week  was  the  highest  charge  for  table-board,  and 
most  of  the  students  paid  but  a  dollar  and  a  half. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  45 

Hawthorne  and  the  writer  usually  lived  at  the 
same  boarding-house  and  were  quite  contented 
with  the  fare.  The  incidental  expenses  of  col 
lege  were  small,  but  even  such  of  the  rooms  as 
were  uncarpeted  and  uncurtained  were  not  cheer 
less,  for  wood  was  abundant  at  a  dollar  a  cord. 
The  one  comparatively  large  item  of  expense 
(excepting  books  and  stationery)  was  that  of 
the  "midnight  oil,"  which  was  brought  from  a 
village  "store"  and  burned  in  brass  or  japanned 
lamps.  After  so  long  an  interval — especially  as 
gas  and  electric  light  have  come  into  use — no 
harm  can  follow  from  divulging  the  secret  that 
certain  students  had  extra  lamp-fillers  that  had 
never  known  oil.  And  these  were  carried  in 
broad  daylight  across  the  campus,  full  of  some 
other  liquid  more  quickly  and  pleasantly  con 
sumed. 

Maine  had  not  then  enacted  the  laws  which 
have  given  her  such  creditable  prominence  as 
the  pioneer  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  At  that 
time,  too,  it  was  the  universal  custom  for  coun 
try  stores  to  sell  "  wines  and  liquors  "  as  well  as 
"  dry-goods  and  groceries." 


Hawthorne  engaged  in  the  usual  college  sports, 
but  with  no  great  zest.  Base-ball  and  foot-ball 
interested  him  little,  though  he  occasionally  joined 


46  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

in  the  rough-and-tumble  games.  He  did  not  like 
running  or  jumping,  but  walking  was  his  favorite 
exercise  ;  in  that  he  was  untiring.  Sometimes  he 
went  out  shooting,  though  he  did  not  claim  to  be 
a  crack  shot.  I  never  saw  him  on  horseback,  but 
frequently  of  a  Saturday  we  drove  in  the  "chaise" 
or  in  the  wagon  of  that  day,  he  never  wishing  to 
hold  the  reins. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ALTHOUGH  Hawthorne,  while  a  collegian,  rare 
ly  sought  or  accepted  the  acquaintance  of  the 
young  ladies  of  the  village,  he  had  a  high  appre 
ciation  of  the  sex.  An  early  marriage,  however, 
did  not  enter  into  his  plans  of  life.  The  evi 
dence  of  this  fact  is  among  my  papers  and  runs 
thus: 

"  BOWDOIN  COLLEGE,  Nov.  14,  1824. 

"If  Nathaniel  Hathorne  is  neither  a  married 
man  nor  a  widower  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  No 
vember,  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Thir 
ty-six,  I  bind  myself  upon  my  honor  to  pay  the 
said  Hathorne  a  barrel  of  the  best  old  Madeira 
wine. 

"  Witness  my  hand  and  seal. 

"JONATHAN  CILLEY." 

[J.  c.] 

"  BOWDOIN  COLLEGE,  Nov.  14,  1824. 
"  If  I  am  a  married  man  or  a  widower  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  November,  One  Thousand  Eight 
Hundred  and  Thirty-six,  I  bind  myself,  upon  my 


48  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

honor,  to  pay  Jonathan  Cilley  a  barrel  of  the 
best  old  Madeira  wine. 

"  Witness  my  hand  and  seal. 

"  NATHANIEL  HATHORNE." 

[N.  H.] 

"  This  instrument  shall  be  delivered  to  Horatio 
Bridge,  and  if  Hathorne  is  married  within  the 
time  specified,  he  shall  transmit  the  intelligence 
to  him  immediately,  and  the  bet,  whoever  shall 
lose  it,  shall  be  paid  within  a  month  after  the  ex 
piration  of  the  time. 

"JONATHAN  CILLEY, 

"  NATHANIEL  HATHORNE." 

This  very  formal  agreement  was  enclosed  in  a 
closely  sealed  package,  endorsed  in  Hawthorne's 
writing,  thus : 

"Mr.  Horatio  Bridge  is  requested  to  take 
charge  of  this  paper,  and  not  to  open  it  until  the 
fifteenth  day  of  November,  1836,  unless  by  the 
joint  request  of  Cilley  and  Hathorne." 

On  the  designated  day  I  broke  the  seals,  and 
notified  Cilley  that  he  had  lost  the  wager.  He 
admitted  the  loss  and,  after  the  delay  of  a  year 
or  more,  was  making  arrangements  for  its  pay 
ment  and  a  meeting  to  taste  the  wine,  when  his 
tragic  death,  in  the  duel  with  Graves,  settled  the 
account. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  49 

Many  years  ago  Hawthorne  requested  me  to 
burn  the  letters  he  had  written  me  in  his  youth 
and  early  manhood.  On  reading  them  over,  I 
found  them  full  of  passages  of  beauty  and  of  de 
tails  of  his  own  plans  and  purposes,  hopes  and 
disappointments.  They  were,  however,  too  free 
in  their  expressions  about  persons  and  things  to 
be  safely  trusted  to  the  chances  of  life ;  and  all 
his  early  letters  were  destroyed.  Many  of  these 
were  signed  "  Oberon,"  and  others  the  familiar 
"  Hathorne  "  or  "  Hath." 

In  a  letter  of  Miss  Peabody,  quoted  by  Mr. 
Conway,  it  is  stated  that  "  his  classmates  called 
Hawthorne  '  Oberon  the  Fairy '  on  account  of 
his  beauty,  and  because  he  improvised  tales."  It 
seems  a  pity  to  spoil  so  poetic  a  fancy ;  but,  if 
truthful  narrative  is  required,  the  cold  facts  are 
these : 

In  reality  the  pseudonym  of  "  Oberon  "  was 
not  given  to  him  by  his  classmates  or  by  any 
one  else  while  in  college,  but  was  assumed  by 
him  at  a  later  date  and  in  this  wise.  Soon  after 
graduation  we  agreed  to  correspond  regularly  at 
stated  periods,  and  we  selected  new  signatures 
for  our  letters.  Hawthorne  chose  that  of  "  Ob 
eron  "  (which  he  afterwards  used  for  some  of  his 
magazine  articles),  while  I  took  the  more  prosaic 
one  of  "  Edward." 

Neither  his  beauty  nor  his  improvised  tales 
4 


50  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

had  anything  to  do  with  his  sobriquet  of  "  Ob- 
eron." 

While  in  college  and  for  some  years  after 
wards  he  spelled  his  name  without  the  w.  On 
first  seeing  the  improved  signature  I  wrote  him 
that  it  was  suggestive  of  a  fat  legacy,  to  which  he 
replied  that  he  had  been  blessed  with  no  such 
luck,  though  he  would  gladly  take  every  letter  in 
the  alphabet  for  a  thousand  dollars  each.  He 
added  that,  in  tracing  the  genealogy  of  his  fam 
ily,  he  had  found  that  some  of  his  ancestors  used 
the  w,  and  he  had  merely  resumed  it. 

Later,  he  sometimes  took  the  signature  of 
"  L'Aubepine,"  which  name  he  adopted  tempora 
rily,  in  accordance  with  the  whim  of  a  queer 
Frenchman  who  spent  a  month  with  us  in  my 
bachelor  home  in  Maine,  as  described  in  the 
"American  Note-Books,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  49.  There 
Hawthorne  says  :  "  He  has  Frenchified  all  our 
names,  calling  B ,  Monsieur  Du  Pont;  my 
self,  M.  de  L'Aubepine ;  and  himself,  M.  de  Ber- 
ger ;  and  all  Knights  of  the  Round  Table." 

There  was  a  musical  society  at  Bowdoin,  though 
not  many  of  the  students  were  instrumental  per 
formers.  Longfellow  played  the  flute,  but  Haw 
thorne  was  notably  deficient  in  musical  talent. 
Like  Charles  Lamb,  he  might  have  said,  "  The 
gods  have  made  me  most  unmusical." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  faculty  of  Bowdoin  College  was  respect 
able,  ranking  probably  as  high  as  that  of  any 
other  young  college— the  time  here- spoken  of 
being  within  the  first  quarter  of  a  century  of  its 
existence. 

The  president  had  been  a  Congregational 
minister,  and  was  a  man  of  piety,  doubtless. 
He  was  precise  in  dress,  and  his  gait — whether 
in  summer's  heat  or  winter's  cold — was  always 
methodical,  measured,  and  slow. 

He  was  vigilant  in  securing  the  legal  rights  of 
the  college  and  in  promoting  its  material  inter 
ests.  He  was  industrious  and  conscientious ; 
but  his  manner  was  precise  and  formal,  instead 
of  being  dignified  ;  and  he  inspired  the  average 
student  with  little  respect  or  esteem. 

Professor  Cleveland,  the  oldest  and,  by  far, 
the  most  distinguished  member  of  the  faculty, 
had  few  if  any  superiors  in  the  country  as  geolo 
gist  or  chemist.  He  was  as  kind  and  genial  as 
he  was  learned.  He  took  a  fatherly  interest  in 
the  students  who  applied  themselves  in  earnest 


52  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

to  the  branches  of  study  in  his  department,  and 
he  regarded  "  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger  " 
those  who  failed  to  show  a  proper  appreciation 
of  their  advantages  in  this  respect.  Outside  his 
own  lecture-room  he  had  little  to  do  with  colle 
giate  discipline,  unless  it  were  to  give  his  voice 
in  favor  of  leniency  to  some  luckless  culprit. 
Never  was  professor  held  in  higher  regard,  nor 
could  any  one  have  inspired  more  kindly  re 
spect. 

Professor  Newman  first  filled  the  chair  of 
Ancient  Languages  and  afterwards  that  of  Rhet 
oric  and  Oratory.  He  was  courteous,  refined, 
and  scholarly ;  yet  he  was  swift  -  footed  and 
prompt  to  detect  and  bring  to  grief  innocent  lads 
enjoying  their  little  amusements,  such  as  lighting 
bonfires,  smashing  tutors'  windows,  burning  pow 
der  in  various  ways,  etc. 

"  Haud  inexpertus  loquor." 

Professor  Smythe,  the  mathematical  professor, 
had  few  friends  in  our  set.  Whether  from  want 
of  tact  in  the  teacher  or  from  inaptitude  in  the 
scholar,  we  usually  associated  the  professor  with 
the  abhorred  conic  sections  and  algebraic  solu 
tions  which  he  strove  to  inject  into  our  unre- 
ceptive  brains.  Although  recognizing  his  ability, 
we  too  often  failed  to  meet  his  requirements. 
For  the  rest,  he  was  learned  in  his  specialty  and 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  53 

exact  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  he 
possessed  great  zeal  and  energy  withal. 

Professor  Upham,  in  our  senior  year,  was  Pro 
fessor  of  Moral  and  Mental  Philosophy.  He -was 
young,  scholarly,  gentle,  and  kind  to  the  students, 
by  all  of  whom  he  was  much  beloved. 

Professor  Packard  was  tutor  and,  afterwards, 
Professor  of  Latin.  He  was  studious,  sympa 
thetic,  and  very  handsome.  He  only  of  the 
faculty  survived  at  the  time  of  our  class  semi 
centennial,  and  he  died  in  1884.  Longfellow,  in 
delivering  his  poem  of  "  Morituri  Salutamus  "  at 
that  celebration,  turned  and  addressed  the  re 
vered  professor  thus : 

"  They  are  no  longer  here,  they  all  are  gone 
Into  the  land  of  shadows — all  save  one. 
Honor  and  reverence  and  the  good  repute 
That  follows  faithful  service  as  its  fruit 
Be  unto  him  whom,  living,  we  salute." 

Thirteen  of  the  thirty-eight  graduates  of  the 
class  at  the  time  of  that  reunion  were  living, 
eleven  of  whom  were  present. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  B.  Cheever  was  the  class 
orator  and  Longfellow  the  class  poet.  Seated 
together  upon  the  stage,  the  eleven  gray-haired 
men  presented  a  striking  contrast  to  the  young 
graduates  before  them,  who,  "  with  the  sublime 
audacity  of  faith,"  were  just  starting  out  upon 
the  race  of  life  that  we  had  so  nearly  run.  The 


54  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

veterans  who  had  separated  fifty  years  before, 
full  of  vigor  and  confidence,  had  returned  to  the 
once  familiar  scenes,  and,  after  half  a  century  of 
vicissitudes,  had  come  to  take  their  final  leave  of 
Bowdoin. 

On  the  next  day  Rev.  Dr.  J.  S.  C.  Abbott  gave 
a  history  of  the  class  in  detail,  correct  in  the 
main,  but  quite  too  flattering  to  the  majority. 

The  class  had  several  meetings  during  the 
Commencement  season.  The  last  was  held  on 
the  campus,  quietly  and  without  publicity.  Be 
neath  the  "  Liberty  Tree,"  with  the  sun  shining 
down  from  a  cloudless  sky,  the  little  band  stood 
around  the  tree  and  listened  reverently  to  a 
solemn  benediction  from  Rev.  Dr.  Shepley,  and 
then,  with  mutual  wishes  of  "  God  bless  you " 
and  "  Farewell,"  parted  to  meet  no  more  on 
earth. 

But  three  of  the  thirteen  graduates  survive  at 
the  present  writing,  in  1892.  "The  fatal  asterisk 
of  Death  "  is  set  against  the  names  of  the  others. 

Before  separating  we  all  agreed  to  interchange 
our  photographs.  In  making  the  exchange, 
Longfellow  wrote  to  me  thus  : 

"  CAMB.,  Dec'r  12,  1875. 

"  MY  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  have  just  had  the 
pleasure  of  receiving  your  photograph.  It  is  so 
good,  it  could  hardly  be  better.  I  wish  the  one 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  55 

I  send  you  in  return  were  as  good.  But  that  is 
wishing  that  I  were  a  handsome  man,  six  feet 
high,  and  we  all  know  the  vanity  of  human 
wishes. 

"  I  was  very  glad  that  you  and  Mrs.  Bridge  were 
not  disappointed  in  Songo  River  and  its  neigh 
borhood.  If  "Long  Pond"  were  called  Loch 
Long,  it  would  be  a  beautiful  lake.  This  and 
Sebago  are  country  cousins  to  the  Westmoreland 
lakes  in  England,  quite  as  lovely,  but  wanting  a 
little  more  culture  and  good  society. 

"  I  often  think  with  great  pleasure  of  our  meet 
ing  at  Brunswick.  There  was  less  sadness  about 
it  than  I  had  thought  there  would  be.  The 
present  always  contrives  to  crowd  out  the  past 
and  the  future. 

"  With  kindest  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Always  yours, 

"  HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW." 

The  whole  letter  is  copied  because  —  while 
speaking  of  the  class  reunion — the  poet  incident 
ally  gives  his  estimate  of  Sebago  Lake,  on  the 
borders  of  which  Hawthorne  spent  a  year  of  his 
lonely  boyhood,  and  to  which  locality  he  refers 
when  he  says,  "It  was  there  I  first  got  my  cursed 
habit  of  solitude." 

Hawthorne  visited  Brunswick  but  once  to  meet 
his  old  associates.  It  was  in  1852 — fifty  years 


56  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

after  the  founding  of  the  college.  In  that  year, 
while  cruising  in  the  Pacific,  I  received  a  letter 
from  him,  in  which  he  says : 

"  I  meant  to  have  told  you  all  about  my  visit 
to  Brunswick  at  the  recent  semi-ce.ntennial  cele 
bration,  but  the  letter  has  already  grown  to  too 
great  length.  It  was  rather  a  dreary  affair. 
Only  eight  of  our  classmates  were  present,  and 
they  were  a  set  of  dismal  old  fellows,  whose 
heads  looked  as  if  they  had  been  out  in  a  pretty 
copious  shower  of  snow.  The  whole  intermedi 
ate  quarter  of  a  century  vanished,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  as  if  they  had  undergone  a  miserable 
transformation  in  the  course  of  a  single  night, 
especially  as  I  myself  felt  just  about  as  young  as 
when  I  graduated.  They  flattered  me  with  the 
assurance  that  time  had  touched  me  tenderly, 
but  alas  !  they  were  each  a  mirror  in  which  I  be 
held  the  reflection  of  my  own  age.  I  did  not  ar 
rive  there  until  the  public  exercises  were  nearly 
over,  and  very  luckily  too,  for  my  praises  had 
been  sounded  by  orator  and  poet,  and,  of  course, 
my  blushes  would  have  been  quite  oppressive." 


In  a  desultory  and  inartistic  way  I  have  thus 
endeavored  to  throw  some  additional  light  upon 
Hawthorne's  college  life  and  his  surroundings  at 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  57 

that  period.  At  the  risk  of  repetition,  I  will  add 
that  his  most  marked  characteristics  were  inde 
pendence  of  thought  and  action  ;  absolute  truth 
fulness  ;  loyalty  to  friends ;  abhorrence  of  debt ; 
great  physical  as  well  as  moral  courage  ;  and  a 
high  and  delicate  sense  of  honor. 

He  shrank  habitually  from  the  exhibition  of 
his  own  secret  opinions,  and  was  careful  to  avoid 
infringement  upon  the  rights  of  others,  while 
thoroughly  conscious  of  his  own. 

On  closing  our  college  association,  we  mutual 
ly  pledged  our  friendship  and  exchanged  parting 
gifts.  Hawthorne's  to  me  was  a  watch-seal  of 
his  father's,  gold  with  a  carnelian  stone,  of  the 
shape  and  fashion  of  ninety  years  ago.  I  have 
treasured  it  carefully,  and  have  provided  that  it 
shall  go  to  his  son  at  my  decease. 

A  brass  hand  lies  upon  my  desk,  holding  the 
several  sheets  of  paper  as  I  write.  It  was  pre 
sented  by  me  to  Hawthorne  at  some  time  before 
I  first  went  to  sea  in  1838  ;  and — after  his  death 
in  1864 — it  was  given  back  to  me  by  Mrs.  Haw 
thorne,  with  the  information  that  it  had  been 
habitually  used  by  Hawthorne  to  hold  the  loose 
papers  on  his  table.  It  will  soon  go  back  (like 
the  watch-seal)  to  one  of  his  children. 


Of  my  own  intimacy  with  Hawthorne  I  have 


58  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

hitherto  said  little,  having  been  content  with  the 
mention  made  of  it  by  my  friend  in  his  published 
writings ;  and  I  trust  it  will  not  be  thought  pre 
sumptuous  that  I  have  jotted  down  here  some 
reminiscences  that  incidentally  show  our  strong 
friendship,  while  rounding  out  the  story  of  his 
college  life. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  narrative  of  Hawthorne's  life  after  leav 
ing  college  has  been  published  in  his  own  "  Note- 
Books,"  edited  by  Mrs.  Hawthorne  ;  in  the  able 
biography  of  "  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  and  his 
Wife,"  by  their  son ;  and  in  the  interesting 
"Study  of  Hawthorne,"  by  his  son-in-law;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  sketches  of  the  romance 
writer  by  Fields,  Curtis,  Stoddard,  James,  and 
others.  But  though  the  principal  facts — essen 
tial  to  a  biography — have  been  given  in  those 
publications,  and  however  much  may  have  been 
written  upon  this  subject,  there  remain  unre 
corded  many  incidents,  the  recital  of  some  of 
which  may  be  acceptable  to  those  readers  who 
prize  every  fresh  fact  concerning  this  author  of 
superlative  power  and  fame.  I  may  therefore 
hope  that  my  ample  knowledge  of  his  personal, 
political,  and  literary  character  will  enable  me  to 
add  something  worthy  of  record  to  the  mass  of 
facts  that  go  to  make  up  the  story  of  his  life. 
My  contribution  will  at  least  have  the  value  of 
personal  recollections.  To  these  I  am  able  to 


60  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

add  many  interesting  letters  of  Hawthorne  and 
his  wife. 

If,  at  any  time,  I  should  repeat  what  has  al 
ready  been  published  by  others,  except  for  the 
purpose  of  commenting  upon  or  of  giving  some 
additional  facts  pertinent  thereto,  the  repetition 
will  be  unintentional. 

I  am  not  a  critic,  and  therefore  shall  not  vent 
ure  upon  an  analysis  of  Hawthorne's  writings — a 
task  which  many  pens  abler  than  mine  have  al 
ready  essayed,  and  which  critics  yet  unborn 
will  doubtless  contribute  to  the  literature  of  the 
future.  Nor  shall  I  attempt  to  write  a  biography 
of  the  romance  writer — a  work  already  accom 
plished  in  the  publications  just  mentioned. 
These  were  admirable,  each  in  its  way ;  and 
recently  they  have  been  supplemented  by  the 
"  Life  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,"  by  Moncure  D. 
Conway,  a  volume  I  have  read  with  much  in 
terest,  though  he  seems  to  me  to  have  been  quite 
too  severe  and  unjust  in  his  criticism  of  Haw- 

Ithorne  for  having  written  the  "  Life  of  Franklin 
Pierce  "  and  for  his  own  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  slavery.  Had  Mr.  Conway  known  the  charm 
of  Pierce's  warm-heartedness  and  his  devoted 
friendship  for  Hawthorne  he  could  have  better 
understood  that  it  would  have  been  hard  for  the 
latter  to  withhold  the  use  of  his  voice  and  pen  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  his  early  friend. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  6 1 

If  Mr.  Conway  had  regarded  the  problem  of 
disunion  as  did  all  parties,  except  the  pro 
nounced  abolitionists,  previous  to  the  civil  war, 
he  might  have  been  more  charitable  in  his  judg 
ment  of  both  Pierce  and  Hawthorne. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  before  the  war 
broke  out  the  Northern  Democrats  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  Republicans  considered  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  Union  in  its  entirety  as  of  para 
mount  importance,  and  were  not  willing  to  jeop 
ardize  it  by  plunging  the  country  into  war, 
though  they  looked  upon  slavery  as  a  deplorable 
evil.  They  had  been  educated  to  believe  that 
the  Constitution  was  sacred  and  binding  upon 
all  the  States — North  and  South — and  that  no 
State  had  the  right  to  repudiate  the  contract  into 
which  all  had  entered. 

No  Northern  man  had  better  means  of  know 
ing  the  dangers  impending,  previous  to  the  out 
break  of  the  war,  than  had  General  Pierce.  In 
timately  associated — as  he  was — with  the  strong 
men  of  the  South,  in  his  Cabinet. and  in  Con 
gress,  he  saw  that  the  Southerners  were  deter- 
mined,  at  all  hazards,  to  defend  their  peculiar  in 
stitution  of  slavery,  which  was  imperilled  by  the 
abolitionists.  While  the  Northejjj,  Republicans 
in  general  scouted  the  idea  that  tftet Slave  States 
would  go  to  war  with  such  odds  in  men,  money, 
and  war-material  against  them,  Pierce  knew  that 
the  South  was  in  dead  earnest. 


62  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

Northern  men,  in  position  to  see  the  signs  of 
the  times,  were  strangely  obtuse  to  them.  Short 
ly  before.  South  Carolina  seceded  I  was  at  table 
in  Washington  with  a  Republican  Congressman 
from  Central  New  York,  when  a  Northern  lady, 
who  had  exceptional  means  of  knowing  the  true 
state  of  Southern  feeling,  earnestly  assured  him 
that  the  South  would  certainly  secede  unless  the 
prevailing  excitement  could  be  allayed.  The 
Congressman  smiled  and  said,  "Mrs.  -  — ,  I 
will  give  you  a  hundred  dollars  for  each  State 
that  secedes,  and  a  hundred  for  every  day  it 
stays  out."  It  goes  without  saying  that  had  the 
pledge  been  kept,  the  lady  would  have  been  in 
much  more  prosperous  circumstances  than  she  is 
in  to-day. 

In  the  Senate,  when  the  Southern  Senators, 
one  after  another,  made  their  impassioned  pro 
tests  against  the  course  of  the  Republicans, 
most  of  the  Northern  Senators  listened  in  un 
concealed  incredulity,  not  believing  that  the 
warnings  could  be  serious ;  but  Pierce  saw  the 
dangers  of  the  crisis,  and  would  have  gone  far 
and  suffered  much  to  avert  them.  He  did  not 
love  slavery,  but  he  tolerated  it  rather  than  see 
the  Union  destroyed. 

For  weal  or  for  woe,  he  was  always  true  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  63 

Probably  the  first  visit  of  more  than  a  day  or 
two  that  Hawthorne  ever  made  (outside  his  own 
family  circle)  was  one  to  me  in  my  bachelor  quar 
ters  in  Augusta,  Maine,  in  1837. 

My  paternal  home — a  spacious  house  of  twen 
ty  rooms — had  come  into  my  possession  by  in 
heritance  ;  and,  as  my  brothers  and  sisters  had 
all  gone  to  new  homes  after  our  father's  decease, 
I  was  left  sole  occupant  of  the  mansion,  with  the 
exceptions  of  my  factotum  Tom  and  a  family 
who  lived  in  a  wing  of  the  building  and  attend 
ed  to  the  housekeeping. 

I  had  given  a  room  to  my  French  teacher  (an 
odd  Franco-German  from  Alsace)  that  I  might 
utilize  my  spare  hours  by  improving  my  knowl 
edge  of  French. 

To  this  irregular  household  Hawthorne  came 
to  spend  a  month  with  me ;  and  doubtless  it  was 
a  pleasure  to  him — as  it  certainly  was  a  great  one 
to  me — that  we  could  thus  enjoy  a  few  weeks'  re 
union,  without  ceremony  and  without  restraint. 

The  Frenchman's  vocation  took  him  away  for 
the  daytime,  but  he  returned  at  night  to  amuse 
and  enliven  us  by  his  gayety,  his  philosophy,  and 
his  eccentricities. 

This  queer  foreigner  was,  to  Hawthorne,  an 
object-lesson  which  he  did  not  fail  to  improve,  as 
his  journal  shows.  Some  of  the  entries  in  that 
journal  bring  out,  in  strong  relief,  one  prominent 


64  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

trait  in  his  character.  I  mean  that  of  noticing, 
critically,  all  scenes  and  incidents  worthy  to  be 
remembered,  and  of  jotting  down  some  of  his 
observations  for  future  use. 

His  mental  sight  was  both  panoramic  and 
microscopic ;  and  he  looked  at  persons  and 
things  with  a  discerning  and  discriminating  eye, 
whether  the  object  of  his  attention  were  a  friend 
or  a  stranger — a  tree  or  a  flower — a  hill  or  a  peb 
ble.  Thus  he  dissected  the  character  and  de 
scribed  the  personality  of  the  French  teacher 
with  a  lenient,  yet  impartial  hand,  while  he  por 
trays  him  in  this  manner : 

"  Mons.  S —  -  does  not  appear  to  be  more 
than  twenty-one  years  old— a  diminutive  figure, 
with  eyes  askew,  and  otherwise  of  an  ungainly 
physiognomy ;  he  is  ill-dressed  also,  in  a  coarse 
blue  coat,  thin  cotton  pantaloons,  and  unbrushed 
boots ;  altogether  with  as  little  French  coxcomb 
ry  as  can  well  be  imagined,  though  with  some 
thing  of  the  monkey  aspect  inseparable  from  a 
little  Frenchman.  He  is,  nevertheless,  an  intel 
ligent  and  well-informed  man,  apparently  of  ex 
tensive  reading  in  his  own  language — a  philoso 
pher  and  an  infidel. 

%•  *  #  *  * 

"  The  little  Frenchman  impresses  me  very  strong 
ly  too — so  lonely  as  he  is  here,  struggling  against 
the  world,  with  bitter  feelings  in  his  breast  and 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  65 

yet  talking  with  the  vivacity  and  gayety  of  his  na 
tion — making  this  his  home  from  darkness  to  day 
light,  and  enjoying  here  what  little  domestic  com 
fort  and  confidence  there  is  for  him  ;  and  then 
going  about  all  the  livelong  day,  teaching  French 
to  blockheads  who  sneer  at  him,  and  returning  at 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  his  solitary 

room  and  bed.    Before  retiring,  he  goes  to  B 's 

bedside,  and  if  he  finds  him  awake  stands  talking 
French  and  expressing  his  dislike  of  the  Ameri 
cans — '  Je  hais,  je  hais  les  Yankees!'  thus  giving 
vent  to  the  stifled  bitterness  of  the  whole  day. 
In  the  morning  I  hear  him  getting  up  early — at 
sunrise  or  before — humming  to  himself,  scuffling 
about  his  chamber  with  his  thick  boots,  and  at 
last  taking  his  departure  for  a  solitary  ramble 
till  breakfast.  Then  he  comes  in,  cheerful  and 
vivacious  enough,  eats  pretty  heartily,  and  is  off 
again,  singing  French  chansons  as  he  goes  down 
the  gravel-walk.  The  poor  fellow  has  no  one  to 
sympathize  with  him  but  B ,  and  thus  a  sin 
gular  connection  is  established  between  two  ut 
terly  different  characters. 

"  Then  there  is  myself,  who  am  likewise  a  queer 
character  in  my  way,  and  have  come  to  spend 
a  week  or  two  with  my  friend  of  half  a  lifetime — 
the  longest  space  probably  that  we  are  destined 
to  spend  together ;  for  Fate  seems  preparing 
changes  for  both  of  us.  My  circumstances,  at 
5 


66  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

least,  cannot  long  continue  as  they  are  and  have 
been  ;  and  Bridge,  too,  stands  between  high  pros- 
i  perity  and  utter  ruin." 

The  "Twice-Told-Tales,"  had  just  been  pub 
lished,  but  Hawthorne  had  not  then  gained  full 
confidence  in  the  favorable  effect  of  the  publica 
tion  upon  his  future  prospects ;  and,  to  myself, 
the  "  utter  ruin  "  came,  a  few  months  later,  in  the 
destruction  of  the  expensive  dam  and  mills,  on 
the  successful  outcome  of  which  I  had  staked  all 
that  I  possessed. 

My  own  time  was  engrossed  by  affairs,  and  I 
saw  little  of  my  French  guest  except  in  the  early 
morning  and  at  night,  when  he  came  back  to  us 
as  to  friends  in  whom  he  could  find  the  sympa 
thy  and  appreciation  which  so  rarely  came  into 
his  isolated  life.  Without  influence  and  without 
means — of  obscure  parentage  and  grotesque  per 
sonality,  yet  with  a  good  education — he  had  come 
to  America,  seeking  the  fortune  and  distinction 
which  he  could  not  hope  for  in  his  native  home. 

Hawthorne's  visit  (all  too  soon  for  me)  came 
to  an  end  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the  Frenchman 
— having  finished  his  teaching  in  the  village — 
went  away  to  "  seek  pastures  new,"  and  I  saw  him 
no  more.  Hawthorne  had  returned  to  the  seclu 
sion  of  his  home,  and  the  French  waif  went,  by  in 
vitation,  to  spend  a  few  days  in  Salem,  where  a  lu 
dicrous  incident  occurred  to  the  two  companions. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  67 

They  were  strolling  one  day  through  the  fields 
near  Salem,  when — not  noticing  the  yellow  flag 
of  warning — they  passed  within  the  precincts  ap 
propriated  to  a  small-pox  hospital  and  were  at 
once  made  prisoners  by  the  custodians  of  this 
place  for  the  infected,  and  were  not  liberated 
until  they  had  been  fumigated  by  burned  leather 
and  subjected  to  other  disinfectants.-  This  tyr 
annous  treatment  doubtless  —  and  with  good 
reason — brought  out  the  little  Frenchman's  em 
phatic  cry  of  "Je  hais,  je  hais  les  Yankees"; 
but  Hawthorne  enjoyed  the  contretemps  im 
mensely. 

In  the  first  decade  after  Hawthorne  left  col 
lege  he  formed  several  plans  of  life,  one  of  which 
was  that  of  entering  his  Uncle  Manning's  count 
ing-house.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  me  he  spoke 
of  this  as  a  settled  purpose,  but  his  repugnance 
to  commercial  life  was  such  that  the  plan  was 
ultimately  abandoned,  and  he  relapsed  into  the 
state  of  partial  inaction  which  so  often  results 
from  unsettled  plans. 

It  is  well  known  that,  soon  after  graduating, 
he  prepared  for  the  press  a  little  volume  of  tales, 
entitled  "  Seven  Tales  of  my  Native  Land."  The 
publisher  who  engaged  to  bring  out  the  book  was 
so  dilatory  that  at  last  Hawthorne,  becoming  im 
patient  and  dissatisfied  with  the  excuses  given, 


68  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

peremptorily  demanded  the  return  of  the  manu 
script.  The  publisher,  aroused  to  a  sense  of  his 
duty  and  ashamed  of  his  broken  promises,  apol 
ogized  and  offered  to  proceed  with  the  work 
at  once ;  but  Hawthorne  was  inexorable ;  and 
though,  as  he  wrote  me  at  the  time,  he  was  con 
scious  of  having  been  too  harsh  in  his  censures, 
he  would  not  recede,  and  he  burned  the  manu 
script,  in  a  mood  half  savage,  half  despairing. 
As  I  expressed  to  him — perhaps  too  strongly — 
my  regret  for  this  proceeding,  he  did  not,  when 
"  Fanshawe  "  was  published,  confide  to  me  the 
fact.  Hearing,  though,  of  the  publication,  I  pro 
cured  a  copy,  and  subsequently  mentioned  it  to 
Hawthorne.  He  had  meantime  become  dissatis 
fied  with  the  book,  and  he  called  in  and  destroyed 
all  the  copies  he  could  reach.  At  his  request  I 
burned  my  copy,  and  we  never  alluded  to  "  Fan 
shawe  "  afterwards.  It  was  at  this  time,  I  think, 
that  he  became  utterly  disheartened,  and,  though 
conscious  of  possessing  more  than  ordinary  liter 
ary  talent,  he  almost  abandoned  all  expectation 
of  success  as  an  author. 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  me,  after  relating  some 
of  his  disappointments,  he  compared  himself  to 
one  drifting  helplessly  toward  a  cataract,  and 
closed  with  these  despairing  words,  "I'm  a 
doomed  man,  and  over  I  must  go." 

Happily  the  despondent  mood  was  not  per- 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE 
After  a  Painting  by  C.  G  Thomson,  1850 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  69 

manent,  and  he  continued  to  write,  though  sub 
jected  to  frequent  disappointments.  He  was  a 
contributor  for  a  little  while  to  a  magazine  pub 
lished,  I  believe,  in  New  York.  The  compen 
sation  was  small,  and  even  that  the  publisher 
professed  his  inability  to  pay.  So  Hawthorne 
stopped  his  contributions  and  withdrew. 

At  the  parting  a  characteristic  incident  oc 
curred.  The  editor  begged  for  a  mass  of  manu 
script  in  his  possession,  as  yet  unp-  jlished,  and 
it  was  scornfully  bestowed.  "  Thus,"  wrote  Haw 
thorne,  "  has  this  man,  who  would  be  considered 
a  Maecenas,  taken  from  a  penniless  writer  mate 
rial  incomparably  better  than  any  his  own  brain 
can  supply."  And  he  closed  with  a  bitter  male 
diction  upon  the  grasping  editor. 

He  had  the  experience  of  being  more  than 
once  deceived  by  those  who  professed  to  have 
the  power  and  wish  to  befriend  him.  A  young 
man,  with  some  means  and  greater  aspirations, 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  literary  newspa 
per  in  Boston,  and  offered  him  the  position  of  co- 
editor.  Another  person,  backed  by  a  rich  father,., 
supplanted  Hawthorne,  who  was  civilly  bowed 
out,  and  the  newspaper,  after  a  brief  and  sickly 
life,  expired. 

In  the  Hawthorne  Biography  there  appeared 
several  old  and  carelessly  written  letters  of  my 
own  —  answers  to  t  some  of  Hawthorne's  that 
were,  long  since,  destroyed  at  his  request. 


70  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

These  letters  I  should  hardly  have  reproduced 
except  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  Haw 
thorne  was  at  times  quite  despairing  and  in  need 
of  all  the  encouragement  his  friends  could  give. 

The  following  extracts  from  my  answers,  just 
mentioned,  will  indicate  sufficiently  the  tenor  of 
his  letters  therein  referred  to  : 

"AUGUSTA,  Oct.  16,  1836. 

"  DEAR  HATH, — I  have  a  thousand  things  to 
say  to  you,  but  can't  say  more  than  a  hundredth 
part  of  them.  .  .  . 

"  You  have  the  blues  again.  Don't  give  up  to 
them  for  God's  sake  and  your  own,  and  mine, 
and  everybody's.  Brighter  days  will  come,  and 
that  within  six  months.  .  .  . 

"  See  what  I  have  written  for  the  Boston  Post, 
and  tell  me  is  it  best  to  send  it  ? 

"  *  It  is  a  singular  fact  that,  of  the  few  American 
writers  by  profession,  one  of  the  very  best  is  a 
gentleman  whose  name  has  never  yet  been  made 
public,  though  his  writings  are  extensively  and 
favorably  known. 

"  '  We  refer  to  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  Esq.,  of 
Salem,  the  author  of  the  "  Gentle  Boy,"  the  "  Gray 
Champion,"  etc.,  etc.,  all  productions  of  high  mer 
it,  which  have  appeared  in  the  annuals  and  mag 
azines  of  the  last  three  or  four  years. 

"  *  Liberally  educated,  but  bred  to  no  profes- 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  71 

sion,  he  has  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  lit 
erary  pursuits,  with  an  ardor  and  success  which 
will,  ere  long,  give  him  a  high  place  among  the 
scholars  of  this  country. 

"  '  His  style  is  classical  and  pure  ;  his  imagina 
tion  exceedingly  delicate  and  fanciful,  and  through 
all  his  writings  there  runs  a  vein  of  sweetest  po 
etry. 

"  '  Perhaps  we  have  no  writer  so  deeply  imbued 
with  the  early  literature  of  America ;  or  who  can 
so  well  portray  the  times  and  manners  of  the 
Puritans. 

"  '  Hitherto  Mr.  Hawthorne  has  published  no 
work  of  magnitude ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
one  who  has  shown  such  unequivocal  evidence 
of  talent  will  soon  give  to  the  world  some  pro 
duction  which  shall  place  him  in  a  higher  rank 
than  can  be  obtained  by  one  whose  efforts  are 
confined  to  the  sphere  of  magazines  and  an 
nuals.' 

"  This  is  not  satisfactory  by  any  means  ;  and 
yet  it  may  answer  the  purpose  of  attracting  at 
tention  to  your  book  when  it  comes  out.     It  is 
not  what  I  wish  it  were,  nor  can  I  make  it  so. 
"  Yours  ever, 

"  H.  BRIDGE."  * 

*  This  letter  was  written  at  the  time  when  I  had  just  in 
tervened  to  procure  the  publication  of  "  Twice-Told-Tales," 


72  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"AUGUSTA,  Oct.  22,  1836. 

"  DEAR  HATH, — I  have  just  received  your  last, 
and  do  not  like  its  tone  at  all.  There  is  a  kind 
of  desperate  coolness  about  it  that  seems  dan 
gerous.  I  fear  that  you  are  too  good  a  subject 
for  suicide,  and  that  some  day  you  will  end  your 
mortal  woes  on  your  own  responsibility. 

"  However,  I  wish  you  to  refrain  till  next 
Thursday,  when  I  shall  be  in  Boston,  Deo  volente. 

"  I  am  not  in  a  very  good  mood  myself,  just 
now,  and  am  certainly  unfit  to  write  or  think. 

"  Be  sure  you  come  and  meet  me  in  Boston. 
"  Yours  truly,  H.  BRIDGE." 

"AUGUSTA,  Dec.  25,  1836. 

"  DEAR  HAWTHORNE,— On  this  Christmas  day 
I  am  writing  up  my  letters.  Yours  comes  first. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  did  not  get  the  maga 
zine,  because  you  wanted  it.  Not  that  I  think  it 
very  important  to  you.  You  will  have  more  time 
for  your  book.  .  .  . 

"Whether  your  book  will  sell  extensively  may 
be  doubtful ;  but  that  is  of  small  importance  in 


without  Hawthorne's  knowledge  of  my  agency  in  the  mat 
ter. 

Within  the  six  months'  limit  the  book  came  out,  and 
brighter  days  did  come  ;  but  I  could  not  then  tell  him  the 
grounds  of  my  confident  prediction. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  73 

the  first  one  you  publish.  At  all  events,  keep  up 
your  spirits  till  the  result  is  ascertained ;  and, 
my  word  for  it,  there  is  more  honor  and  emolu 
ment  in  store  for  you,  from  your  writings,  than 
you  imagine.  The  bane  of  your  life  has  been 
self-distrust.  This  has  kept  you  back  for  many 
years  ;  which,  if  you  had  improved  by  publish 
ing,  would  long  ago  have  given  you  what  you 
must  now  wait  a  short  time  for.  It  may  be  for 
the  best,  but  I  doubt  it. 

"  I  have  been  trying  to  think  what  you  are  so 
miserable  for.  Although  you  have  not  much  prop 
erty,  you  have  good  health  and  powers  of  writ 
ing,  which  have  made,  and  can  still  make,  you 
independent. 

"  Suppose  you  get  '  but  $300  per  annum '  for 
your  writings.  You  can,  with  economy,  live  upon 
that,  though  it  would  be  a  tight  squeeze.  You 
have  no  family  dependent  upon  you,  and  why 
should  you  '  borrow  trouble  '  ? 

"This  is  taking  the  worst  view  of  your  case 
that  it  can  possibly  bear.  It  seems  to  me  that 
you  never  look  at  the  bright  side  with  any  hope 
or  confidence.  It  is  not  the  philosophy  to  make 
one  happy. 

"  I  expect,  next  summer,  to  be  full  of  money, 
a  part  of  which  shall  be  heartily  at  your  service, 
if  it  comes.  .  .  . 

"  And    so    Frank    Pierce   is  elected   Senator. 


74  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

There  is  an  instance  of  what  a  man  can  do  by 
trying.  With  no  very  remarkable  talents,  he  at 
the  age  of  thirty-four  fills  one  of  the  highest  sta 
tions  in  the  nation.  He  is  a  good  fellow,  and  I 
rejoice  at  his  success.  He  can  do  something  for 
you  perhaps.  The  inclination  he  certainly  has. 
Have  you  heard  from  him  lately  ? 

"Yours  ever,  H.  BRIDGE." 

"AUGUSTA,  Feb.  i,  1837. 

"  DEAR  HAWTHORNE,  —  So  your  book  is  in 
press,  and  will  soon  be  out.  Thank  God  the 
plunge  will  be  made  at  last.  I  am  sure  it  will 
be  for  good.  .  .  . 

"I  coincide  perfectly  with  you  touching  the 
disparity  between  a  writer's  profits  and  a  pub 
lisher's.  It  is  hard  that  you  should  do  so  much 
and  receive  so  little  from  The  Token.  You  say 
an  editorship  would  save  you.  I  tell  you  that 
within  six  months  you  may  have  an  editorship  in 
any  magazine  in  the  country  if  you  desire  %C  I 
wish  to  God  that  I  could  impart  to  you  a  little  of 
my  own  brass.  You  would  then  dash  into  the 
contest  of  literary  men,  and  do  honor  to  yourself 
and  to  your  country  in  a  short  time.  But  you 
never  will  have  confidence  enough  in  yourself, 
though  you  will  have  fame.  .  .  . 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  HORACE." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  75 

"  AUGUSTA,  May  24,  1837. 

"  DEAR  HAWTHORNE, — I  am  rejoiced  that  your 
last  gives  me  reason  to  expect  that  you  will  pay 
me  a  visit  soon.  When  you  come,  make  your  ar 
rangements  so  that  you  can  stay  two  or  three 
months  here.  I  have  a  great  house  to  myself, 
and  you  shall  have  the  run  of  it. 

"  I  received  a  letter  two  days  ago  from  Pierce, 
dated  May  2d,  requesting  me  to  ascertain  exact 
ly  how  matters  were  relating  to  the  exploring 
expedition.  I  have  written  Pierce,  advising  him 
to  inquire  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  if  there 
is  any  vacancy,  and  recommending  you  for  it. 

"  It  might  be  well  to  put  your  papers  on  file  in 
his  office,  in  case  you  should  be  a  candidate  for 
one  of  the  editorships  of  the  magazine. 

"  It  is  of  no  use  for  you  to  feel  blue.  I  tell  you 
that  you  will  be  in  a  good  situation  next  winter 
instead  of  'under  a  sod.'  Pierce  is  interested 
for  you,  and  can  make  some  arrangement  I  know. 
An  editorship  or  a  clerkship  at  Washington  he 
can  and  will  obtain.  So  courage,  and  au  diable 
with  your-'  sods !' 

"  I  have  something  to  say  to  you  upon  marriage 
and  about  Goodrich,  and  a  thousand  other  things. 
I  shall  be  inclined  to  quarrel  with  you  if  you  do 
not  come,  and  that  will  be- a  serious  business  for 
you,  for  my  wrath  is*  dreadful.  Good-by  till  I  see 
you  here.  Yours  truly,  H.  BRIDGE." 


76  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

These  letters  in  some  measure  indicate  the  de 
spondency  to  which  Hawthorne  was  subjected  at 
this,  the  turning-point  in  his  literary  career.  In 
his  secluded  life  he  neither  had  nor  sought  new 
friends  who  could  have  aided  and  encouraged 
him,  and  his  life  wore  away  with  little  apparent 
promise.  Still  he  continued  to  write  for  the  small 
sums  he  received  in  cash  or  promises  as  well  as 
for  the  pleasurable  excitement  of  composition 
and  with  the  growing  hope  of  future  success. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

BESIDES  writing  tales  for  different  reviews  and 
magazines,  Hawthorne  contributed  many  articles 
to  The  Token,  an  annual  published  by  Mr.  S.  G. 
Goodrich.  A  few  years  later  he  was  employed 
by  that  publisher  to  write  some  of  the  "  Peter 
Parley"  books.  He  received  but  small  compen 
sation  for  any  of  this  literary  work,  for  he  lacked 
the  knowledge  of  business  and  the  self-assertion 
necessary  to  obtain  even  the  moderate  remuner 
ation  vouchsafed  to  writers  fifty  years  ago.  It 
would  be  amusing,  if  it  were  not  exasperating,  to 
observe  the  patronizing  tone  of  Mr.  Goodrich, 
when,  as  late  as  September,  1836,  he  wrote  to 
Hawthorne,  "  Your  letter  and  the  two  folios  of 
*  Universal  History '  were  received  some  days 
ago.  I  like  the  history  pretty  well.  I  shall 
make  it  do."  See  "  Biography  of  Hawthorne," 
Vol.  I.,  p.  138.  The  book  certainly  did,  for  its 
sale  went  above  a  million  long  ago,  though  it  is 
my  impression  that  the  author  received  only  $100 
for  the  work. 

A    letter    of    S.  G.  Goodrich   to    Hawthorne, 


78  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

dated  January  19,  1830 — see  "Hawthorne  Biog 
raphy,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  131 — shows  that  Mr.  Good 
rich  had  then  in  his  hands  the  manuscript  of  a 
proposed  book  of  Hawthorne's.  He  says  in  re 
lation  to  it,  "  On  my  return  to  Boston  in  April,  I 
will  use  my  influence  to  induce  a  publisher  to 
take  hold  of  the  work,  who  will  give  it  a  fair 
chance  of  success." 

In  a  letter  of  Hawthorne's  to  Goodrich,  dated 
May  6,  1830,  given  in  Derby's  "  Fifty  Years 
among  Authors  and  Publishers,"  p.  113,  the  for 
mer  speaks  of  the  "  Provincial  Tales,"  adding, 
"  Such  being  the  title  I  propose  to  give  to  my 
volume." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  causes  for  delay, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  volume,  under  the  al 
tered  title  of  "  Twice-Told-Tales,"  did  not  appear 
until  1837 — seven  years  after  the  manuscript — 
in  part — was  first  in  Mr.  Goodrich's  possession. 

From  time  to  time  I  heard  of  this  intended 
publication,  and  constantly  encouraged  Haw 
thorne  to  bring  out  the  volume.  But  I  hesitated 
to  intervene  without  his  sanction,  and  that 
would  not  have  been  given  to  any  course  involv 
ing  possible  loss  to  me.  At  last,  however,  hav 
ing  become  convinced  that  my  friend  was  being 
deluded  by  false  hopes,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Goodrich 
and  asked  if  there  was  any  pecuniary  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  the  publication  ;  adding,  if  that  were 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  79 

the  cause  of  the  delay,  I  would  obviate  it  by 
guaranteeing  the  publisher  against  loss.  As  I 
was  a  stranger  to  him,  I  proffered  Boston  refer 
ences.  The  following  was  his  answer : 

"BOSTON,  Oct.  20,  1836. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  in  regard 
to  our  friend  Hawthorne.  It  will  cost  about  $450 
to  print  1000  volumes  in  good  style.  I  have  seen 
a  publisher,  and  he  agrees  to  publish  it  if  he  can 
be  guaranteed  $250  as  an  ultimate  resort  against 
loss.  If  you  will  find  that  guaranty,  the  thing 
shall  be  put  immediately  in  hand. 

"  I  am  not  now  a  publisher,  but  I  shall  take 
great  interest  in  this  work ;  and  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  probability  that  you  will  ever  be 
called  upon  for  a  farthing.  The  generous  spirit 
of  your  letter  is  a  reference.  I  only  wish  to  know 
if  you  will  take  the  above  risk.  The  publication 
will  be  solely  for  the  benefit  of  Hawthorne ;  he 
receiving  ten  per  cent,  on  the  retail  price — the 
usual  terms.  I  am,  yours  respectfully, 

"  S.  G.  GOODRICH. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  Augusta,  Me." 

I  gave  the  requisite  guaranty  at  once,  stipulat 
ing  only  that  the  affair  should  be  concealed  from 
Hawthorne ;  for  I  was  sure  he  would  object  to 
the  publication  if  he  were  informed  of  my  action 


8o  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

in  the  premises.  Mr.  Goodrich  assented  to  this 
stipulation,  and  in  due  time  the  book  came  out. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  he  magnified 
his  own  part  in  the  matter,  for,  while  the  volume 
was  going  through  the  press,  Hawthorne  told  me 
that  he  intended  to  dedicate  it  to  Mr.  Goodrich, 
in  recognition  of  his  services  in  that  regard. 

Knowing  that  this  would  bring  the  parties  into 
a  false  attitude  towards  each  other,  I  cautioned 
Hawthorne  against  this  proposed  dedication,  as 
appears  in  a  forgotten  letter  of  mine,  published 
in  the  "Hawthorne  Biography,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  143. 
Having  learned  from  Mr.  Goodrich  —  some 
months  after  "  Twice-Told-Tales  "  appeared — 
that  its  sales  had  satisfied  the  guaranty,  I  told 
Hawthorne  of  my  unauthorized  intervention,  as 
it  was  clearly  right  that  he  should  know  the  ex 
tent  of  his  obligation  to  the  publisher. 

The  letter  of  Mr.  Goodrich,  just  quoted,  will 
interest  some  readers,  as  showing  the  cost  of 
printing  books,  and  the  comparative  avails  to  au 
thor  and  publisher,  in  1836.  The  retail  price  of 
"Twice-Told-Tales"  was,  I  believe,  one  dollar. 
From  the  $1000  first  obtained,  after  deducting 
the  cost  of  printing  ($450)  and  the  author's  share 
($100),  there  would  remain  to  the  publisher  and 
the  retail  bookseller  $450.  For  any  copies  print 
ed  in  excess  of  the  first  thousand,  the  cost  to  the 
publisher  would  be  much  less,  while  the  author's 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  8 1 

percentage  would  remain  the  same.  This  in  a 
case  where  the  publisher  was  assured  against  loss. 
How  different  would  have  been  Hawthorne's  en 
couragement  had  he  commenced  his  literary  work 
in  this  decade ! 

The  success  of  "Twice-Told-Tales"  was  not 
pecuniarily  great  at  first,  but  in  this  country  and 
still  more  in  England,  where  Hawthorne  was 
promptly  and  highly  appreciated,  the  book  estab 
lished  his  right  to  a  place  among  living  authors 
of  recognized  power. 

The  cloud  had  lifted  at  last,  and  he  never  after 
wards  wholly  despaired  of  achieving  success  as  a 
writer.  There  were  times,  however,  when  he  felt 
unequal  to  the  effort  of  writing  even  a  letter,  say 
ing  that  he  "  detested  a  pen." 

Fortunately  his  habits  were  inexpensive,  and 
his  abhorrence  of  debt  nerved  him  to  retain  his 
independence  in  the  darkest  seasons. 

Several  letters  of  my  own  (hereinbefore  given, 
and  quite  forgotten  until  they  appeared  in  the 
"  Hawthorne  Biography  ")  show  that  I  was  con 
stantly  advising  him  to  cease  publishing  in  mag 
azines  and  annuals,  and  to  bring  out  his  writings 
in  the  form  of  volumes  only.  By  this  method  he 
could  free  himself  from  the  necessity  of  offering 
his  productions  piecemeal  to  editors — a  process 
repulsive  to  his  sensitive  spirit. 


82  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

Early  in  1837  General  Pierce,  believing  that 
Hawthorne  would  be  benefited  by  an  entire 
change  of  his  surroundings,  suggested  to  him  the 
plan  of  joining  the  contemplated  Exploring  Ex 
pedition  to  the  -South  Sea  as  its  historian.  The 
project  pleased  him,  and  for  three  or  four  months 
an  active  correspondence  relating  to  this  subject 
was  maintained  by  Hawthorne,  Pierce,  and  the 
present  writer.  Several  letters  of  General  Pierce 
and  myself — addressed  to  Hawthorne  and  pub 
lished  in  the  "  Hawthorne  Biography,"  pp.  152  to 
162 — refer  to  the  efforts  made  to  bring  about  the 
desired  arrangement. 

This  expedition  was  primarily  organized  under 
the  plan  of  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq. — a  man  of  some 
scientific  reputation  and  great  energy  of  character 
— who  was  to  be  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  enter 
prise. 

A  squadron  under  the  command  of  Commo 
dore  Ap  Catesby  Jones,  composed  of  the  frigate 
Macedonian,  three  brigs,  and  a  store-ship,  was  put 
in  commission  for  this  exploring  duty;  and  a 
large  scientific  corps,  with  Reynolds  at  its  head, 
was  provided  for. . 

At  that  time  I  was  spending  the  winter  in 
Washington,  and  I  did  what  I  could  to  secure  for 
Hawthorne  the  office  he  desired.  My  friend  and 
townsman,  Hon.  R.  Williams,  was  Chairman  of 
the  Senate  Naval  Committee,  and,  of  course,  was 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  83 

influential  at  the  Navy  Department.  He  cor 
dially  co-operated  with  Pierce  and  Cilley,  backed 
by  the  rest  of  the  Maine  and  New  Hampshire 
delegations,  in  the  effort  to  secure  Hawthorne's 
appointment.  With  the  influences  at  work  there 
was  a  good  prospect  of  success,  when  naval  and 
scientific  jealousy  interrupted  the  programme. 

The  cry  of  economy  was  raised,  the  vessels 
were  ordered  to  other  duty,  and  Reynolds's  ambi 
tious  project  suddenly  collapsed  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned. 

The  expedition  was  reorganized  the  next  year, 
and  Lieutenant  —  afterwards  Rear  -  Admiral  — 
Wilkes  was  ordered  to  its  command.  Meantime 
Hawthorne's  prospects  had  brightened  with  the 
success  of  "Twice-Told -Tales,"  and  he  ceased  to 
care  for  duty  in  the  expedition. 

Had  his  aspirations  in  that  direction  been  suc 
cessful  the  current  of  his  life  would  have  been 
strangely  disturbed,  and  his  later  writings  would, 
I  think,  have  taken  on  an  entirely  different  color 
ing — whether  for  the  better,  who  shall  say  ? 


In  1839  Hawthorne  was  appointed  weigher  and 
gauger  in  the  Boston  Custom-house,  which  office 
he  held  until  1841.  Thus  two  years  of  his  life 
were  devoted  to  the  routine  duties  of  an  office 
requiring  only  the  practical  qualities  possessed  by 


84  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

men  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  reliability ;  and 
he  brought  his  good  sense  to  bear  upon  his  pro 
saic  duties,  which  he  performed  faithfully  and 
well.  On  leaving  the  custom-house  he  joined  the 
colony  at  Brook  Farm,  where  he  lived  for  several 
months  as  co-laborer,  and  especially  as  an  inter 
ested  inquirer  into  the  social  experiment  then 
and  there  in  progress.  He  had  previously  be 
come  engaged  to  Miss  Sophia  A.  Peabody,  and 
this  episode  was  tentative  as  to  the  expediency 
of  making  the  Farm  a  temporary  home  for  his  in 
tended  wife  and  himself.  But  his  pecuniary  in 
terest  in  the  scheme  was  that  of  creditor,  not 
partner.  He  loaned  Mr.  Ripley  $1000  or  $1500, 
which  money,  when  closing  his  connection  with 
the  association,  he  was  unable  to  recover  without 
resorting  to  legal  measures,  which  he  did  through 
the  agency  of  G.  S.  Hillard,  Esq.,  with  what  ulti 
mate  result  I  do  not  know. 

I  drove  out  from  Boston  two  or  three  times  to 
see  Hawthorne  at  Brook  Farm.  He  had  a  small 
room,  simply  furnished,  and  with  very  few  books 
visible.  He  .was  apparently  enjoying  himself, 
curiously  observing  the  odd  phase  of  life  around 
him,  and,  while  having  little  faith  in  the  success 
of  the  social  experiment,  doing  his  full  share  to 
secure  it.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  disposed  to 
get  such  amusement  as  he  might  from  his  sur 
roundings.  I  remember  that  he  boasted  of  hav- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  85 


ing  driven  into  ^Boston  with  the  farmer  in  the 
farm-wagon,  wearing  a  linsey-woolsey  frock,  and 
carrying  a  calf  to  market. 

I  remember  also  his  glee  in  telling  of  his  strict 
ly  enforcing  the  rules  for  early  rising  by  blowing 
the  horn  —  long  and  loud  —  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  much  to  the  discomfort  of  the  drowsy 
members  of  the  family.  But  enough  of  Brook 
Farm.  It  has  been  fully  chronicled  in  many 
publications. 


V 


CHAPTER  X. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  his  marriage,  in  1842,  Haw 
thorne  went  to  reside  in  the  "  Old  Manse "  at 
Concord,  where  his  life  for  three  years  was  rest 
ful  and  happy.  Full  of  enjoyment  in  his  home 
and  family,  he  was  only  troubled  by  narrow 
means,  which  was  all  the  more  annoying  because 
those  who  owed  him  money  enough  to  make  life 
comfortable  would  not  (doubtless  some  of  them 
could  not)  pay  their  debts.  In  this  quiet  retreat 
he  occupied  himself  in  writing  tales,  gardening, 
boating,  and  occasionally  in  receiving  friends. 

Several  times  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawthorne  kindly 
urged  me  to  visit  them  at  the  "  Old  Manse,"  and 
I  was  always  received  with  the  most  cordial  hos 
pitality.  Their  life  at  Concord  has  been  so  fully 
and  so  beautifully  described  by  Mr.  Julian  Haw 
thorne  in  the  biography  of  his  father  and  mother 
— not  only  in  his  own  narration,  but  in  their 
charming  letters  therein  given — that  it  is  perhaps 
needless  for  me  to  add  anything  to  that  recital. 
Let  me  say,  however,  that  I  was  early  impressed 
with  the  conviction  that  their  marriage  was  a  con- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  87 

genial  and  most  happy  one.  By  the  delicate 
health  of  Mrs.  Hawthorne  she  was  all  the  more 
endeared  to  her  manly  husband,  and  in  return 
she  gave  him  a  wealth  of  confidence,  admiration, 
and  love.  The  union  was  most  fortunate  for  both, 
and  the  only  drawback  to  their  happiness  came 
in  the  sharp  economy  requisite  for  living  within 
their  income. 

The  small  and  uncertain  receipts  from  his  lit 
erary  work,  as  well  as  his  "  disappointments  in 
money  expected  from  three  or  four  sources," 
made  Hawthorne  "sigh  for  the  regular  monthly 
payments  at  the  custom-house,"  and  led  him  to 
wish  for  the  Salem  post-office,  the  appointment  to 
which  his  friends  in  that  town  and  elsewhere 
zealously,  though  in  vain,  sought  to  procure  for 
him. 


In  1845  Hawthorne,  besides  preparing  for  the 
press  the  second  series  of  "  Twice  -Told  -Tales," 
edited  the  "Journal  of  an  African  Cruiser." 

The  origin  of  that  little  volume  was  this :  Early 
in  1843  I  was  attached  to  a  ship-of-war  under 
orders  to  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  Hawthorne 
suggested  the  plan  of  my  taking  such  notes  as 
would  give  me  material  for  a  few  articles  in  the 
Democratic  Review.  This  plan  was  afterwards, 
by  his  advice,  changed  to  that  of  publishing  the 


88  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

notes  in  a  book.  I  assented  to  the  change  on 
the  condition  that  he  should  take  the  trouble  of 
editing  and  bringing  out  the  volume,  and  with  the 
further  condition  that  he  should  have  the  copy 
right  and  the  sole  profit  of  the  publication. 

The  letters  next  following  evince  the  great 
interest  he  took  in  this  project — more  on  my  ac 
count  than  on  his  own.  They  also  set  forth  his 
views  as  to  the  best  mode  for  successful  journal 
izing,  and  they  show  conclusively  that  his  life 
was  a  very  happy  one  in  the  "  Old  Manse." 

"CONCORD,  March  24,  1843. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  see  by  the  newspapers  that 
you  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  undergo  a 
tremendous  storm.*  Good  fortune  I  call  it,  for  I 
should  be  very  glad  to  go  through  the  same 
scene  myself  if  I  were  sure  of  getting  safe  to  dry 
land  at  last.  I  did  not  know  of  your  having 
sailed,  else  I  might  have  been  under  great  ap 
prehensions  on  your  account ;  but,  as  it  hap 
pened,  I  have  only  to  offer  my  congratulations. 
I  hope  you  were  in  a  condition  to  look  at  matters 

*  The  storm  here  spoken  of  refers  to  a  violent  gale  and 
blinding  snow-storm  off  the  coast  of  New  Hampshire  (as 
mentioned  on  an  earlier  page),  in  which  the  Saratoga  (on 
her  way  from  Portsmouth  to  New  York,  previous  to  the 
African  cruise)  was  in  imminent  peril,  and  only  escaped 
total  shipwreck  by  our  cutting  away  the  masts  and  anchor 
ing  on  a  rocky  lee-shore. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  89 

with  a  philosophic  eye — not  sea-sick  nor  too  much 
frightened.  A  staff-officer,  methinks,  must  be 
more  uncomfortable  in  a  storm  than  the  sea- 
officers.  Taking  no  part  in  the  struggle  against 
the  winds  and  the  waves,  he  feels  himself  more 
entirely  at  their  mercy.  Perhaps  a  description 
of  the  tempest  may  form  a  good  introduction  to 
your  series  of  articles  in  the  Democratic. 

"  I  returned  from  my  visit  to  Salem  on  Wed 
nesday  last.  My  wife  went  with  me  as  far  as 
Boston.  I  did  not  come  to  see  you  because  I 
was  very  short  of  cash,  having  been  disappoint 
ed  in  money  that  I  expected  from  three  or  four 
sources.  My  difficulties  of  this  sort  sometimes 
make  me  sigh  for  the  regular  monthly  payments 
at  the  custom-house.  The  system  of  slack  pay 
ments  in  this  country  is  most  abominable,  and 
ought,  of  itself,  to  bring  upon  us  the  destruction 
foretold  by  Father  Miller.  It  is  impossible  for 
any  individual  to  be  just  and  honest  and  true  to 
his  engagements  when  it  is  a  settled  principle  of 
the  community  to  be  always  behindhand.  I  find 
no  difference  in  anybody  in  this  respect.  All  do 
wrong  alike.  -  — -  is  just  as  certain  to  disappoint 
me  in  money  matters  as  any  pitiful  little  scoun 
drel  among  the  book-sellers.  On  my  part  I  am 
compelled  to  disappoint  those  who  put  faith  in 
my  engagements,  and  so  it  goes  round.  The 
devil  take  such  a  system  ! 


90  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  I  suppose  it  will  be  some  time  before  you  get 
to  sea  again,  and  perhaps  you  might  find  leisure 
to  pay  us  another  visit,  but  I  cannot  find  it  in 
my  conscience  to  ask  you  to  do  so  in  this  dreary 
season  of  the  year.  It  is  more  than  three  months 
since  we  had  a  glimpse  -of  the  earth,  and  two 
months  more  must  intervene  before  we  can  hope 
to  see  the  reviving  verdure.  I  don't  see  how  a 
bachelor  can  survive  such  a  winter.  .  .  .  We  are 
very  happy,  and  have  nothing  to  wish  for  except 
a  better  filled  purse— and  not  improbably  gold 
would  bring  trouble  with  it,  at  least  my  wife 
says  so,  and  therefore  exhorts  me  to  be  content 
with  little. 

"  I  have  heard  nothing  about  the  office  since 

I  saw  you.  They  tell  me  in  Salem  that will 

not  probably  gain  his  election,  but  that  after  a 
few  more  trials  a  coalition  will  be  formed  between 
the  moderate  Whigs  and  the  candidate  of  a  frac 
tion  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  that  case 

will  not  get  the  post-office,  and  possibly  it  will 
yet  be  the  reward  of  my  patriotism  and  public 
services,  but  of  this  there  is  little  prospect. 

"  The  wine  came  safe,  and  my  wife  sends  her 
best  acknowledgments  for  it.  As  in  duty  bound, 
however,  she  has  made  it  over  to  me,  and  I  shall 
feel  myself  at  liberty  to  uncork  a  bottle  on  any 
occasion  of  suitable  magnitude.  Longfellow  is 
coming  to  see  me,  and  as  he  has  a  cultivated 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  9 1 

taste  in  wines,  some  of  this  article  shall  be  sub 
mitted  to  his  judgment.  If  possible  there  shall 
be  a  bottle  in  reserve  whenever  you  favor  us  with 
another  visit. 

"  Do  not  forget^  your  letters  from  Liberia. 
What  would  you  think  of  having  them  published 
in  a  volume  ?  But  it  will  be  time  enough  for  this 
after  their  appearance  in  the  magazine.  I  should 
like  well  to  launch  you  fairly  on  the  sea  of  liter 
ature. 

"  I  have  a  horrible  cold,  and  am  scarcely  clear 
headed  enough  to  write.  God  bless  you, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  U.  S.  N.,  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H." 

"CONCORD,  May  3,  1843. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  am  almost  afraid  that  you 
will  have  departed  for  Africa  before  this  letter 
reaches  New  York;  but  I  have  been  so  much 
taken  up  with  writing  for  a  living,  and  likewise 
with  physical  labor  out-of-doors,  that  I  have 
hitherto  had  no  time  to  answer  yours.  It  was 
perhaps  as  well  that  you  did  not  visit  Concord 
again,  for  by  comparison  of  dates  I  am  led  to  be 
lieve  that  my  wife  and  yourself  were  in  Boston 
at  the  same  time.  She  had  gone  thither  to  take 
leave  of  her  sister  Mary,  who  is  now  married, 
and  has  sailed  in  the  May  steamer  for  Europe. 


92  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  I  formed  quite  a  different  opinion  from  that 
which  you  express  about  your  description  of  the 
storm.  It  seemed  to  me  very  graphic  and  ef- 
•  fective,  and  my  wife  coincides  in  this  judgment. 
Her  criticism  on  such  a  point  is  better  worth 
having  than  mine,  for  she  knows  all  about 
storms,  having  encountered  a  tremendous  one 
on  a  voyage  to  Cuba.  You  must  learn  to  think 
better  of  your  powers.  They  will  increase  by 
exercise.  I  would  advise  you  not  to  stick  too 
accurately  to  the  bare  fact,  either  in  your  descrip 
tions  or  your  narrative  ;  else  your  hand  will  be 
cramped,  and  the  result  will  be  a  want  of  free 
dom  that  will  deprive  you  of  a  higher  truth  than 
that  which  you  strive  to  attain.  Allow  your 
fancy  pretty  free  license,  and  omit  no  heighten 
ing  touches  because  they  did  not  chance  to  hap 
pen  before  your  eyes.  If  they  did  not  happen, 
they  at  least  ought,  which  is  all  that  concerns 
you.  This  is  the  secret  of  all  entertaining  trav 
ellers.  If  you  meet  with  any  distinguished  char 
acters,  give  personal  sketches  of  them.  Begin 
to  write  always  before  the  impression  of  novelty 
has  worn  off  from  your  mind,  else  you  will  be 
apt  to  think  that  the  peculiarities  which  at  first 
attracted  you  are  not  worth  recording ;  yet  those 
slight  peculiarities  are  the  very  things  that  make 
the  most  vivid  impression  upon  the  reader. 
Think  nothing  too  trifling  to  write  down,  so  it  be 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  93 

in  the  smallest  degree  characteristic.  You  will 
be  surprised  to  find  on  re-perusing  your  journal 
what  an  importance  and  graphic  power  these 
little  particulars  assume.  After  you  have  had 
due  time  for  observation,  you  may  then  give 
grave  reflections  on  national  character,  custom, 
morals,  religion,  the  influence  of  peculiar  modes 
of  government,  etc.,  and'I  will  take  care  to  put 
them  in  their  proper  places  and  make  them  come 
in  with  due  effect.  I  by  no  means  despair  of 
putting  you  in  the  way  to  acquire  a  very  pretty 
amount  of  literary  reputation,  should  you  ever 
think  it  worth  your  while  to  assume  the  author 
ship  of  these  proposed  sketches.  All  the  merit 
will  be  your  own,  for  I  shall  merely  arrange  them, 
correct  the  style,  and  perform  other  little  offices 
as  to  which  only  a  practised  scribbler  is  an  fait. 
"  In  relation  to  your  complaint  that  life  has 
lost  its  charm,  that  your  enthusiasm  is  dead, 
and  that  there  is  nothing  worth  living  for,  my 
wife  bids  me  advise  you  to  fall  in  love.  It  is 
a  woman's  prescription,  but  a  man  —  videlicet, 
myself — gives  his  sanction  to  its  efficacy.  You 
would  find  all  the  fresh  coloring  restored  to  the  , 
faded  pictures  of  life  ;  it  would  renew  your  youth ; 
you  would  be  a  boy  again,  with  the  deeper  feel-  „/- 
ing  and  purposes  of  a  man.  Try  it,  try  it — first, 
however,  taking  care  that  the  object  is  in  every 
way  unexceptionable,  for  this  will  be  your  last 


94  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

chance  in  life.  If  you  fail  you  will  never  make 
another  attempt. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  see  O' Sullivan  in  New 
York.  I  know  nothing  about  the  prospects  of 
office,  if  any  remain.  It  is  rather  singular  that  I 
should  need  an  office,  for  nobody's  scribblings 
seem  to  be  more  acceptable  to  the  public  than 
mine ;  and  yet  I  shall  find  it  a  tough  scratch  to 
gain  a  respectable  support  by  my  pen.  Per 
haps  matters  may  mend ;  at  all  events,  I  am  not 
very  eager  to  ensconce  myself  in  an  office, 
though  a  good  one  would  certainly  be  desirable. 
By  the  bye,  I  received  a  request  the  other  day 
from  a  Philadelphia  magazine  to  send  them  a 
daguerreotype  of  my  phiz  for  the  purpose  of 
being  engraved.  O'Sullivan  likewise  besought 
my  wife  for  a  sketch  of  my  head,  so  you  see  that 
the  world  is  likely  to  be  made  acquainted  with 
my  personal  beauties.  It  will  be  very  convenient 
for  a  retired  and  bashful  man  to  be  able  to  send 
these  pictorial  representations  abroad  instead  of 
his  real  person.  I  know  not  but  O'Sullivan's 
proposal  was  meant  to  be  a  secret  from  me,  so 
say  nothing  about  it  to  him. 

"  It  would  gladden  us  much  to  have  you  here 
for  a  week,  now  that  the  country  is  growing 
beautiful,  and  the  fishing  season  is  coming  on. 
But  this  is  not  to  be  hoped  for  until  your  return. 
Take  care  of  your  health,  and  do  not  forget  the 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  95 

sketches.  It  is  not  the  profit  to  myself  that  I 
think  about,  but  I  hope  that  they  may  contribute 
to  give  your  life  somewhat  of  an  adequate  pur 
pose,  which  at  present  it  lacks. 

"  God  bless  you.  N.  H. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  U.S.  Ship  Saratoga, 
New  York  City." 

"  CONCORD,  April  i,  1844. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Your  letter  to  my  wife  was 
received  by  her  in  a  situation  which  I  am  sure 
you  will  consider  sufficient  excuse  for  her  not 
answering  it  at  present,  a  daughter  having  been 
born  on  the  3d  of  last  month.  So,  you  see,  I  am 
at  last  the  regular  head  of  a  family,  while  you  are 
blown  about  the  world  by  every  wind.  I  com 
miserate  you  most  heartily.  If  you  want  a  new 
feeling  in  this  weary  life,  get  married.  It  renews 
the  world  from  the  surface  to  the  centre. 

"  I  am  happy  to  tell  you  that  our  little  girl  is 
remarkably  healthy  and  vigorous,  and  promises, 
in  the  opinion  of  those  better  experienced  in 
babies  than  myself,  to  be  very  pretty.  For  my 
own  part,  I  perceive  her  beauty  at  present  rather 
through  the  medium  of  faith  than  with  my  actual 
eyesight.  However,  she  is  gradually  getting  into 
shape  and  comeliness,  and  by  the  time  when  you 
shall  have  an  opportunity  to  see  her,  I  flatter 
myself  she  will  be  the  prettiest  young  lady  in 


96  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

the  world.      I  think   I   prefer  a  daughter  to  a 
son. 

"  We  have  read  your  letter  with  very  great 
interest.  You  have  had  great  luck  certainly  in 
having  actually  fought  through  a  whole  war ;  but 
I  hope  that  you  will  now  be  content  to  rest  on 
your  laurels.*  The  devil  take  those  copper-slugs ! 
As  your  station,  I  believe,  does  not  call  you  to 
the  front  of  the  battle,  do  pray  be  advised  to  stay 
on  board  ship  the  next  time,  and  think  how  much 
preferable  is  a  sluggish  life  to  such  a  s/ug-gish 
death  as  you  might  chance  to  meet  on  shore.  A 
civilized  and  educated  man  must  feel  somewhat 
like  a  fool,  methinks,  when  he  has  staked  his 
own  life  against  that  of  a  black  savage  and  lost 
the  game.  In  the  sight  of  God  one  life  may  be 
as  valuable  as  another,  but  in  our  view  the  stakes 
are  very  unequal.  Besides,  I  really  do  consider 

*  The  "war"  referred  to  in  this  letter  hardly  rose  to 
the  dignity  of  a  skirmish,  consisting,  as  it  did,  in  the  land 
ing  of  a  detachment  of  sailors  and  marines,  with  their  offi 
cers,  from  the  ships  of  the  squadron,  and  the  burning  of 
five  native  villages.  This  destruction  was  effected  for  the 
purpose  of  punishing  the  natives  for  plundering  and  burn 
ing  an  American  vessel  and  murdering  the  captain  and  the 
crew. 

King  Krako,  the  leader  of  these  five  tribes,  showed  fight, 
his  men  firing  upon  us  from  the  woods,  but  doing  no  dam 
age  except  the  wounding  of  a  marine  with  a  copper  slug, 
presumably  made  of  a  spike  from  the  luckless  Mary  Cai~ver. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  97 

the  shooting  of  these  negroes  a  matter  of  very 
questionable  propriety,  and  am  glad,  upon  the 
whple,  that  you  bagged  no  game  upon  either  of 
those  days. 

"  In  one  point  of  view,  these  warlike  occurrences 
are  very  fortunate — that  is,  in  supplying  matter 
for  the  journal.  I  should  not  wonder  if  that 
were  your  object  in  thrusting  yourself  into  these 
perils.  Make  the  most  of  them. 

"  If  I  mistake  not,  it  will  be  our  best  plan,  both 
as  regards  your  glory  and  my  profit,  to  publish 
the  journal  by  itself,  rather  than  in  a  magazine, 
and  thus  make  an  independent  author  of  you  at 
once.  A  little  of  my  professional  experience  will 
easily  put  it  into  shape,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the 
Harpers,  or  somebody  else,  will  be  glad  to  pub 
lish  it,  either  in  the  book  or  pamphlet  form,  or 
perhaps  in  both,  so  as  to  suit  the  different  classes 
of  readers.  My  name  shall  appear  as  editor,  in 
order  to  give  it  what  little  vogue  may  be  derived 
from  thence,  and  its  own  merits  will  do  the 
rest. 

"  You  must  have  as  much  as  possible  to  say 
about  the  African  trade,  its  nature,  the  mode  of 
carrying  it  on,  the  character  of  the  persons  en 
gaged  in  it,  etc.,  in  order  to  fit  the  book  for 
practical  men.  Look  at  things,  at  least  some 
things,  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  though  without 
prejudice  to  as  much  romantic  incident  and  ad- 
7 


98  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

venture  as  you  can  conveniently  lay  hold  of.   Oh, 
it  will  be  an  excellent  book. 

"  I  have  no  news  to  tell  you  except  the  great 
event  with  which  I  began  my  letter.  I  continue 
to  scribble  tales,  with  good  success  so  far  as  re 
gards  empty  praise,  some  notes  of  which,  pleas 
ant  enough  to  my  ears,  have  come  from  across 
the  Atlantic.  But  the  pamphlet  and  piratical 
system  has  so  broken  up  all  regular  literature 
that  I  am  forced  to  write  hard  for  small  gains. 
If  we  have  a  Democratic  President  next  year  I 
shall  probably  get  an  office.  Otherwise,  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  God  will  provide  for  me  and  mine  in 
some  other  way. 

"  I  have  not  written  to  you  before,  not  from  cold 
ness  nor  forgetfulness,  but  partly  because  the 
sight  of  a  pen  makes  me  sick,  and  partly  because 
I  never  feel  as  if  a  letter  would  reach  you  in  your 
wanderings  on  the  trackless  ocean.  If  you  had 
any  certain  abiding-place  it  would  be  different ; 
but  now  it  is  like  trying  to  shoot  a  bird  in  the 
air.  Take  care  of  yourself,  and  keep  clear  of 
night  dews  and  copper  slugs. 

"  Your  friend,  N.  H. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  U.  S.  Ship  Saratoga, 
African  Squadron." 

"SALEM,  Nov.  29,  1844. 
"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  have  just  received  your  let- 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  99 

ter  at  this  place,  where  we  have  been  spending 
Thanksgiving. 

"  It  heartily  rejoices  me  to  know  that  you  are 
again  on  your  native  soil.  I  do  not  think  I  shall- 
return  to  Concord  for  ten  days  or  a  fortnight ;  so 
that  it  is  very  possible  we  may  meet  in  Boston. 

"As  to  the  post-office, 's  kinsman  is  now 

out  of  the  question.  A  new  appointment  was 
made  two  or  three  months  ago,  but  it  has  not 
been  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  As  the  removal 
was  entirely  on  political  grounds,  there  seems  to 
be  considerable  doubt  whether  they  will  sanction 
it.  Very  probably  your  influence  might  cause 
the  rejection  of  the  new  incumbent;  in  which 
case  I  think  I  might  have  a  good  chance  for  the 
office  from  Polk.  The  late  appointment  is  not 
particularly  satisfactory  to  the  Democrats  here, 

as  the  man  belongs  to  the clique,  which  has 

never  lost  its  influence  in  Essex  County.  If  I  am 
not  misinformed,  Tyler  had  actually  appointed 
me,  but  was  afterwards  induced  to  change  it. 
He  will  probably  leave  it  to  the  next  adminis 
tration  to  make  a  new  appointment. 

"  God  bless  you.  If  you  come  to  Boston  within 
a  fortnight,  let  us  know.  Inquire  at  13  West 
Street.  Yours  ever, 

"  N.  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  Washington." 


100  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

The  three  letters  next  following  relate  princi 
pally  to  the  "Journal  of  an  African  Cruiser," 
which  was  published  in  1845. 

"CONCORD,  April  17,  1845. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  am  happy  to  announce 
that  your  book  is  accepted,  and  will  make  its  ap 
pearance  as  one  of  the  volumes  of  "  Choice  Read 
ing."  Few  new  authors  make  their  bows  to  the 
public  under  such  favorable  auspices ;  but  you 
always  were  a  lucky  devil,  except  in  the  specula 
tion  of  the  Kennebec  mill-dam,  which,  likewise, 
may  turn  out  to  have  been  good  luck  in  the  long 
run.  I  have  christened  the  book  the  "  Journal 
of  an  African  Cruiser."  I  don't  know  when  it  is 
to  come  out — probably  soon  ;  although  I  suppose 
they  will  wish  the  American  series  to  be  led  by 
some  already  popular  names.  Your  last  letter 
arrived  when  the  manuscript  was  on  the  point  of 
being  sent  off,  but  I  contrived  to  squeeze  in 
whatever  was  essential  of  the  new  matter. 

"  I  have  heard  nothing — good  or  bad — as  to 
the  result  of  the  P.  O.  application.  Duyckinck, 
in  his  letter  about  the  book,  mentions  that  O'Sul- 
livan  was  in  Washington,  where  doubtless  he  will 
do  all  that  can  be  done  in  my  behalf.  Your  in 
terview  with  Bancroft  gave  me  better  auspices 
than  I  before  had  on  the  subject. 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  wishes  me  to  tell  you  that 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  IOI 

she  will  not  be  able  to  make  you  the  talked-of 
visit  the  approaching  summer.  Her  sister,  Mrs. 
Mann,  is  coming  to  board  in  Concord,  principally 
with  a  view  to  being  near  Sophia,  and  even  if  I 
should  obtain  an  office,  I  shall  leave  her  here  at 
the  Old  Manse  for  the  summer  and  resume  a 
bachelor-life  in  Salem.  It  shall  go  hard,  but  I 
will  drop  in  upon  you  at  least  for  a  day  or  two, 
or  for  a  dinner,  if  better  may  not  be. 

"  Una  continues  to  flourish.  Her  mother  lulls 
her  to  sleep  every  night  by  stories  about  your 
visit,  so  that  you  were  not  only  pleasant  while 
here,  but  are  very  profitable  now  that  you  have 
departed.  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  Navy  Yard,  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H." 

"CONCORD,  May  2,  1845. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Duyckinck  writes  me  that 
your  book  is  stereotyped  and  about  to  go  to  press. 
The  first  edition  will  be  of  two  thousand  copies, 
five  hundred  of  which  will  be  sent  to  London. 
It  seems  they  have  put  in  my  name  as  editor, 
contrary  to  my  purpose,  and  much  to  my  annoy 
ance  ;  not  that  I  am  troubled  with  any  such  re 
luctance  about  introducing  you  as  you  felt  about 
introducing  your  friend to  fashionable  so 
ciety  ;  but  I  wished  you  to  have  all  the  credit  of 


102  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

the  work  yourself.  Well,  you  shall  still  engross 
all  the  merit,  and  may  charge  me  with  all  the 
faults. 

"  I  have  bespoken  fifty  copies  for  you,  and  di 
rected  them  to  be  sent  to  my  address  in  Boston, 
whence  I  will  take  care  to  have  them  forwarded 
to  you  immediately,  with  the  exception  of  perhaps 
half  a  dozen,  which  I  shall  reserve  for  distribu 
tion  myself.  You  had  better  send  me  the  names 
of  the  persons  whom  you  wish  to  have  copies  in 
Boston  and  vicinity.  The  fifty  copies  will  be 
paid  for  out  of  my  avails  for  the  book,  for  it 
would  be  rather  too  severe  a  joke  to  make  your 
work  an  actual  expense  to  you. 

"  I  have  heard  nothing  from  O' Sullivan,  nor 
from  any  other  source,  in  reference  to  the  post- 
office. 

"  Write  forthwith  and  tell  me  how  the  books 
should  be  sent  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth. 
"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  Navy  Yard,  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H." 

"CONCORD,  May  7,  1845. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  send  the  Journals  as  re 
quested,  and  heartily  wish  that  I  could  afford  to 
come  myself.  Have  you  told  Charles  Greene  of 
the  forthcoming  book  ?  If  not,  it  will  be  best  to 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  103 

do  so  immediately,  that  he  may  be  in  readiness 
to  add  his  voice  to  the  general  acclamation  of 
praise.  I  requested  Duyckinck  to  send  your 
copies  to  Dr.  Peabody's,  directed  to  me.  They 
probably  will  not  arrive  so  soon  as  this,  but  it 
will  do  no  harm  for  you  to  call  there  before  leav 
ing  Boston,  and  if  you  find  them,  you  can  dispose 
of  them  according  to  your  pleasure,  leaving  out 
six,  or,  if  you  can  spare  them,  ten  copies,  which 
I  will  endeavor  to  dispose  of  so  as  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  book.  If  you  find  that  you 
have  not  copies  enough,  we  can  procure  more 
from  New  York. 

"  In  a  hurry,  your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"CONCORD,  August  19,  1845. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  have  this  moment  received 
your  letter,  and  answer  it  in  the  post-office.  I 
know  not  whether  you  can  do  anything  for  us  in 
New  York,  but  should  be  glad  to  have  you  call 
on  O'Sullivan.  He  has  written  me  a  letter  which 
my  wife  mailed  for  me  at  Salem  after  reading  it, 
but  which  has  not  yet  reached  me.  It  referred 
to  an  offer  by  Bancroft  of  an  office  (a  clerkship,  I 
suspect)  connected  with  the  Charlestown  Navy 
Yard — the  salary  $900.  This  offer  I  shall  not 
accept;  and  I  wish  you  to  tell  O'Sullivan  so, 
and  request  him  to  inform  Bancroft.  Perhaps  it 


104  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

would  be  well  to  let  O'Sullivan  into  the  whole 
business  of  our  late  canvass,  so  that  he  may  be 
aware  of  the  strength  with  which  we  shall  take 
the  field  at  the  next  session  of  Congress. 
"  Do  come  and  see  us  on  your  return. 
"  In  great  haste 

"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE. 
"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  Astor  House,  N.  Y." 


CHAPTER   XL 

IN  the  autumn  of  1845  the  family  left  Concord 
and  returned  to  Salem,  in  reference  to  which 
Hawthorne  wrote : 

"SALEM,  Oct.   7,   1845. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Here  I  am,  again  established 
in  the  old  chambers  where  I  wasted  so  many 
years  of  my  life.  I  find  it  rather  favorable  to 
my  literary  duties,  for  I  have  already  begun  to 
sketch  out  the  story  for  Wiley  &  Putnam.  I 
received  a  letter  from  Duyckink  to-day,  which  I 
mean  to  enclose  as  giving  authentic  intelligence 
of  the  welfare  of  your  book. 

"  Your  check  arrived  seasonably,  and  did  me 
as  much  good  as  the  same  amount  ever  did  any 
body. 


"  Sophia  has  remained  in  Boston  in  order  to 
see  her  friends  in  and  about  the  city,  before 
withdrawing  into  my  den.  I  shall  bring  her 


106  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

home  the  latter  part  of  this  week  or  the  first  of 
next.  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  U.  S.  Navy  Yard, 
Portsmouth,  N.  H." 

"  20  CLINTON  PLACE,  Oct.  2,  1845. 

"DEAR  SIR,  —  I  hope  you  will  not  think  me 
a  troublesome  fellow  if  I  drop  you  another  line 
with  the  vociferous  cry,  MSS.!  MSS.!  Mr.  Wi 
ley's  American  series  is  athirst  for  the  volume  of 
Tales,  and  how  stands  the  prospect  for  the  '  His 
tory  of  Witchcraft'  I  whilom  spoke  of? 

"  The  'Journal  of  the  Cruiser'  has  just  gone  to 
a  second  edition  of  a  thousand  copies,  the  first,  I 
believe,  having  been  two  thousand.  W.  &  P.  pro 
ject  cheap  series  of  these  books  for  the  school 
district  libraries,  in  the  first  of  which  the  Jour 
nal  will  be  included. 

"  The  English  notices  are  bounteous  in  praise. 
No  American  book  in  a  long  time  has  been  so 
well  noticed. 

"  Pray,  MSS.  or  no  MSS.,  let  me  hear  from  you, 
that  you  are  well  and  your  family. 

"  Yours  truly,  EVERT  A.  DUYCKINCK. 

"NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE,  Esq." 

"SALEM,   F^b.  21, 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE,— A  day  or  two  afteY 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  1 07 

your  letter  communicating  the  arrangement  about 
the  Surveyorship  and  Naval  office,  I  had  one  from 
O'Sullivan  who  had  been  in  Washington,  but  had 
just  returned  to  New  York.  He  appeared  to  know 
nothing  about  the  above  arrangement,  but  said 
that  the  President  had  promised  to  give  me  eith 
er  the  Surveyorship  or  Naval  office.  It  appears 
therefore  that  I  may  consider  myself  pretty  cer 
tain  of  getting  one  or  the  other,  and  I  trust  it  will 
be  the  Surveyorship,  which  is  the  most  eligible, 
both  on  account  of  the  emolument  and  the  posi 
tion  which  it  confers.  Whichever  it  is,  it  is  to 
you  I  shall  owe  it  among  so  many  other  solid 
kindnesses.  I  have  as  true  friends  as  any  man  ; 
but  you  have  been  the  friend  in  need  and  the 
friend  indeed. 

"  In  other  respects,  too,  my  affairs  look  prom 
ising  enough.  Wiley  &  Putnam  are  going  to  pub 
lish  two  volumes  of  my  Tales  instead  of  one,  and 
I  shall  send  off  the  copy,  I  hope,  on  Monday. 
My  mind  will  now  settle  itself  after  the  long  in 
quietude  of  expectation  ;  and  I  mean  to  make 
this  a  profitable  year  in  the  literary  way. 

"  I  regret  that  you  are  so  soon  thinking  of  go 
ing  to  sea  again.  You  must  not  go  without  giv 
ing  me  the  chance  of  another  visit,  though  of  the 
briefest  duration. 

"  I  hope,  moreover,  that  you  will  remain  ashore 
until  I  am  again  established  in  a  home  of  my 


108  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

own,  when  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  be  my  guest 
often,  at  bed  and  board.     We  are  neighbors  now. 
"  Your  friend, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

I  have  found  the  following  scrap  of  a  letter 
which  must  have  been  written  soon  after  my  re 
turn  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  1845,  since  it 
refers  to  some  furs  known  as  African  lynx,  which 
I  had  brought  home  and  presented  to  Mrs.  Haw 
thorne. 

The  deep  satisfaction  he  expressed  in  his  wife 
and  his — then — only  child  makes  this  fragment 
worth  preserving. 

"  The  skins  came  safe  yesterday  morning,  and 
Sophia,  I  believe,  contemplates  having  them  made 
into  a  muff.  She  and  Una  are  very  well,  and  Una 
continues  to  talk  about  'Misser  Bidge.'  After  all, 
having  a  wife  who  thoroughly  satisfies  me,  and  a 
child  whom  I  would  not  exchange  for  a  fortune, 
I  am  not  quite  so  unlucky  a  devil  as  you  set  me 
down  for.  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


When  Mr.  Polk  became  President,  the  plan  of 
campaign  for  Hawthorne's*  appointment  to  the 
Salem  Post-office  was  pursued  with  vigor  for  a 
while ;  but  there  were  strong  political  obstacles 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  109 

in  the  way,  and  consequently  his  efforts  and  those 
of  his  friends  were  turned  towards  the  Surveyor- 
ship  of  the  Salem  Custom-house,  an  office  of 
less  labor  and  responsibility,  though  of  smaller 
emolument  than  the  post-office  afforded. 

Referring  to  a  visit  made  me  in  the  summer 
of  1845,  at  tne  navy-yard  near  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire,  it  so  happened  that  I  was  then  sta 
tioned  at  that  yard.  Living  in  spacious  quarters 
as  a  bachelor,  and  not  unwilling  to  share  my 
summer  comforts  with  my  friends,  it  occurred  to 
me  that  Hawthorne's  interests  could  best  be  pro 
moted  by  bringing  him  and  Mrs.  Hawthorne  into 
social  relations  with  some  of  my  influential  friends 
and  their  wives. 

To  carry  out  this  project,  and  for  my  personal 
pleasure  as  well,  I  invited  Senator  and  Mrs.  Pierce 
and  Senator  and  Mrs.  Atherton,  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  Senator  Fairfield,  of  Maine,  together 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawthorne  and  little  Una,  to 
spend  two  or  three  weeks  with  me.  To  make 
the  reunion  less  formal,  two  of  my  own  sisters 
and  some  Washington  friends  were  included. 
The  indulgent  party  enjoyed  the  novelty  of  a 
visit  to  a  bachelor  at  a  navy-yard,  and  when  any 
shortcomings  in  his  housekeeping  occurred  the 
guests  only  grew  the  merrier  therefor. 

What  with  boating,  fishing,  and  driving,  and  in 
the  entire  absence  of  formality,  the  visit  went  off 


110  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

smoothly,  and  its  main  object — that  of  interest 
ing  men  of  influence  in  Hawthorne's  behalf — 
was  attained. 

Though  Pierce  was  an  old  friend,  Atherton 
and  Fairfield  first  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Hawthorne  at  that  time,  and  they  became  his 
strong  advocates  and  friends. 

In  June  of  the  next  year  he  was  appointed 
Surveyor. 

Hawthorne's  life  flowed  tranquilly  for  the  next 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  he  was 
removed  by  the  Whig  administration,  under  (in 
that  case,  at  least)  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  ro 
tation  in  office. 

With  other  friends  I  strove  zealously  to  save 
him,  because  he  wished  to  retain  the  office.  But 
when  the  dismissal  came  I  wrote  my  congratula 
tions,  telling  him  that  he  would  now  be  obliged 
to  devote  himself  to  his  appropriate  work  in  life. 
Eight  months  after  his  official  decapitation  he 
finished  "  The  Scarlet  Letter,"  and  increased 
fame,  as  well  as  freedom  from  pressing  anxiety 
about  pecuniary  matters,  followed  quickly  upon 
the  publication  of  the  great  romance. 

"  SALEM,  Feb.  4,  1850. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  finished  my  book  only  yes 
terday,  one  end  being  in  press  in  Boston,  while  the 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  III 

other  was  in  my  head  here  in  Salem ;  so  that,  as 
you  see,  the  story  is  at  least  fourteen  miles  long. 

"  I  should  make  you  a  thousand  apologies  for 
being  so  negligent  a  correspondent  if  you  did 
not  know  me  of  old,  and,  as  you  have  tolerated 
me  so  many  years,  I  do  not  fear  that  you  will 
give  me  up  now.  The  fact  is,  I  have  a  natural 
abhorrence  of  pen  and  ink,  and  nothing  short  of 
absolute  necessity  ever  drives  me  to  them. 

"  My  book,  the  publisher  tells  me,  will  not  be 
out  before  April.  He  speaks  of  it  in  tremendous 
terms  of  approbation.  So  does  Mrs.  Hawthorne, 
to  whom  I  read  the  conclusion  last  night.  It 
broke  her  heart,  and  sent  her  to  bed  with  a  griev 
ous  headache,  which  I  look  upon  as  a  triumphant 
success. 

"Judging  from  its  effect  on  her  and  the  pub 
lisher,  I  may  calculate  on  what  bowlers  call  a 
ten-strike.  Yet  I  do  not  make  any  such  calcu 
lation.  Some  portions  of  the  book  are  power 
fully  written ;  but  my  writings  do  not,  nor  ever 
will,  appeal  to  the  broadest  class  of  sympathies, 
and  therefore  will  not  obtain  a  very  wide  popu 
larity.  Some  like  them  very  much,  others  care 
nothing  for  them,  and  see  nothing  in  them. 
There  is  an  introduction  to  this  book  giving  a 
sketch  of  my  custom-house  life,  with  an  imagina 
tive  touch  here  and  there,  which  may,  perhaps, 
be  more  widely  attractive  than  the  main  narra- 


112  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

tive.  The  latter  lacks  sunshine,  etc.  To  tell  you 
the  truth,  it  is— (I  hope  Mrs.  Bridge  is  not  pres 
ent)— it  is  positively  a  h— 1-f— d  story,  into  which 
I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  throw  any  cheer 
ing  light. 

"  This  house  on  Goose  Creek,  which  you  tell 
me  of,  looks  really  attractive ;  but  I  am  afraid 
there  must  be  a  flaw  somewhere.  I  like  the  rent 
amazingly.  I  wish  you  would  look  at  it  and  form 
your  own  judgment  and  report  accordingly ;  and, 
should  you  decide  favorably,  I  will  come  myself 
and  see  it ;  but  if  it  appears  ineligible  to  you  I 
shall  let  the  matter  rest  there,  it  being  inconve 
nient  for  me  to  leave  home,  partly  because  funds 
are  to  be  husbanded  at  this  juncture  of  my  af 
fairs,  and  partly  because  I  can  ill  spare  the  time, 
as  winter  is  the  season  when  my  brain-work  is 
chiefly  accomplished. 

"  I  should  like  to  give  up  the  house  which  I  now 
occupy  at  the  beginning  of  April,  and  must  soon 
make  a  decision  as  to  where  I  shall  go.  I  long 
to  get  into  the  country,  for  my  health  latterly  is 
not  quite  what  it  has  been  for  many  years  past. 
I  should  not  long  stand  such  a  life  of  bodily  in 
activity  and  mental  exertion  as  I  have  lived  for 
the  last  few  months.  An  hour  or  two  of  daily 
labor  in  a  garden,  and  a  daily  ramble  in  country- 
air,  or  on  the  sea-shore,  would  keep  all  right. 
Here,  I  hardly  go  out  once  a  week.  Do  not  al- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  113 

lude  to  this  matter  in  your  letters  to  me,  as  my 
wife  already  sermonizes  me  quite  sufficiently  on 
my  habits ;  and  I  never  own  up  to  not  feeling 
perfectly  well.  Neither  do  I  feel  anywise  ill ; 
but  only  a  lack  of  physical  vigor  and  energy, 
which  reacts  upon  the  mind. 

"With  our  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge,  I  re 
main,  Truly  your  friend, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  HORATIO  BRIDGE,  Esq.,  U.  S.  Navy  Yard, 
Portsmouth,  N.  H." 

"  SALEM,  April  13,  1850. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  am  glad  you  like  '  The 
Scarlet  Letter.'  It  would  have  been  a  sad  matter 
indeed  if  I  had  missed  the  favorable  award  of 
my  oldest  and  friendliest  critic.  The  other  day 
I  met  with  your  notice  of  '  Twice-Told-Tales '  for 
the  Augusta  Age;  and  I  really  think  nothing  bet 
ter  has  been  said  about  them  since.  This  book 
has  been  highly  successful :  the  first  edition  hav 
ing  been  exhausted  in  ten  days,  and  the  second 
(five  thousand  copies  in  all)  promising  to  go  off 
rapidly. 

"  As  to  the  Salem  people,  I  really  thought  that 
I  had  been  exceedingly  good-natured  in  my  treat 
ment  of  them.  They  certainly  do  not  deserve 
good  usage  at  my  hands  after  permitting  me  to 
be  deliberately  lied  down — not  merely  once,  but 
8 


114  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

at  two  several  attacks — on  two  false  indictments 
— without  hardly  a  voice  being  raised  on  my  be 
half  ;  and  then  sending  one  of  the  false  witnesses 
to  Congress,  others  to  the  Legislature,  and  choos 
ing  another  as  the  mayor. 

'  I  feel  an  infinite  contempt  for  them — and  prob 
ably  have  expressed  more  of  it  than  I  intended— 
for  my  preliminary  chapter  has  caused  the  great 
est  uproar  that  has  happened  here  since  witch- 
times.  If  I  escape  from  town  without  being 
tarred  and  feathered,  I  shall  consider  it  good- 
luck.  I  wish  they  would  tar  and  feather  me  ;  it 
would  be  such  an  entirely  novel  kind  of  distinc 
tion  for  a  literary  man.  And,  from  such  judges 
as  my  fellow-citizens,  I  should  look  upon  it  as  a 
higher  honor  than  a  laurel  crown. 

"  I  have  taken  a  cottage  in  Lenox,  and  mean  to 
take  up  my  residence  there  about  the  first  of 
May.  In  the  interim  my  wife  and  children  are 
going  to  stay  in  Boston ;  and  nothing  could  be 
more  agreeable  to  myself  than  to  spend  a  week 
or  so  with  you  ;  so  that  your  invitation  comes  ex 
ceedingly  apropos.  In  fact,  I  was  on  the  point 
of  writing  to  propose  a  visit.  We  shall  move 
our  household  gods  from  this  locality  to-morrow 
or  next  day.  I  will  leave  my  family  at  Dr.  Pea- 
body's,  and  come  to  Portsmouth  on  Friday  of 
this  week,  unless  prevented  from  coming  at  all. 
I  shall  take  the  train  that  leaves  Boston  at  eleven 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  115 

o'clock ;  so,  if  you  happen  to  be  in  Portsmouth 
that  afternoon,  please  to  look  after  me.  I  am 
glad  of  this  opportunity  of  seeing  you,  for  I  am 
assured  you  will  never  find  your  way  to  Lenox. 
I  thank  Mrs.  Bridge  for  her  good-wishes  as  re 
spects  my  future  removal  from  office,  but  I  should 
be  sorry  to  anticipate  such  bad-fortune  as  being 
ever  again  appointed  to  one. 
"Truly  your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

Hawthorne's  feelings  towards  Salem  and  its 
inhabitants,  as  shown  in  the  above  letter,  may 
be  accounted  for  somewhat  by  the  circumstances 
and  surroundings  of  his  boyhood. 

The  isolation  of  his  family,  his  three  years' 
lameness,  and  his  long  absences — at  Raymond 
and  in  college — prevented  him  from  forming 
friendships  with  other  Salem  boys  that  might 
have  essentially  modified  his  later  sentiments 
towards  his  native  town.  As  it  was,  he  grew  up 
almost  as  a  stranger  in  his  birthplace — until  he 
had  reached  manhood.  But  I  have  seen  no  evi 
dence  of  unfriendliness  towards  his  fellow-citi 
zens  previous  to  his  being  brought  into  closer 
relations  with  them  as  an  officer  of  the  Salem 
Custom-house,  from  which  office  he  was  removed 
through  the  strenuous  exertions  of  leading  men 
of  the  opposite  political  party.  As  Hawthorne 


Il6  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

had  never  been  an  active  partisan,  and  as  no 
fault  could  justly  have  been  found  with  his  offi 
cial  or  personal  character,  it  was  not  strange  that 
he  became  embittered  against  many  of  the  men 
of  influence  in  Salem  and  against  the  town  itself. 
And  he  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  his  senti 
ments,  or  to  mollify  the  anger  resulting  from  his 
cutting  statements  in  that  regard  ! 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MY  own  marriage  in  1846  brought  to  Haw 
thorne  another  appreciative  friend,  to  whom  he 
at  once  gave  his  confidence  and  esteem. 

Our  house  was  always  open  to  him,  and  he 
came  to  us  at  will,  as  to  friends  from  whom  he 
was  sure  of  a  welcome  and  in  whose  society  he 
felt  no  restraint. 

On  one  occasion,  after  my  return  from  an  Afri 
can  and  European  cruise,  I  was  ordered  to  the 
Portsmouth  station,  where  we  were  hardly  settled 
at  house-keeping  when  Hawthorne  came  to  see  us. 

The  hall  was  encumbered  by  boxes,  at  sight  of 
which  he  feared  that  his  visit  was  inopportune ; 
and  he  quickly  said,  "  I  have  just  come  for  an 
hour  or  two  to  see  you,  and  must  return  this 
evening." 

Mrs.  Bridge  —  perceiving  that  the  fear  of  in 
commoding  us  was  influencing  him — said, 

"  Must  you  desert  us  when  I  need  your  aid  in 
unpacking  these  boxes  ?" 

"  Will  you  really  let  me  help  you  ?"  he  replied. 

Her  joking  answer — assuring  him  of  her  pleas- 


Il8  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

ure  in  gaining  so  strong  a  helper,  both  in  muscle 
and  intelligence — put  him  entirely  at  ease,  and 
for  a  week  he  made  himself  useful  on  all  possi 
ble  occasions.  As  I  was  convalescing,  after  a 
malarial  fever,  it  was  a  great  relief  to  me  to  have 
his  efficient  aid. 

A  pleasant  feature  of  the  work  consisted  in 
unpacking  and  selecting  places  for  the  many 
things  that  Mrs.  Bridge  had  been  able  to  collect 
in  France  and  Italy  during  the  troublous  times 
of  1848-49. 

Hawthorne  was  much  interested  in  her  account 
of  the  persons  she  had  met  and  the  places  she 
had  visited,  but  more  especially  of  her  journey 
in  Spain. 

Mrs.  Bridge  had  come  to  join  me  in  Europe ; 
but,  as  I  was  attached  to  a  cruising  ship,  we 
could  only  meet  occasionally,  and  she  was  obliged 
to  make  her  journeys  without  me. 

At  another  time,  on  one  of  his  visits,  he  was 
talking  with  Mrs.  Bridge  at  twilight,  while  I  was 
dozing  on  the  sofa.  With  the  ease  of  manner 
that  precluded  all  embarrassment  on  his  part, 
she  said  to  him,  "  Now  tell  me  a  story."  Look 
ing  at  me — without  a  moment's  hesitation — he 
said,  "  I  will  tell  you  one  which  I  could  write, 
making  that  gentleman  one  of  the  principal 
characters.  I  should  begin  with  the  description 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  1 19 

of  his  father — a  dignified  and  conservative  man 
— who,  for  many  years,  had  lived  in  a  great 
mansion,  by  the  side  of  a  noble  river,  and  had 
daily  enjoyed  the  sight  of  the  beautiful  stream 
flowing  placidly  by,  without  a  thought  of  disturb 
ing  its  natural  course. 

"  His  children  had  played  upon  its  banks,  and 
the  boys  swam  in  the  quiet  stream  or  rowed  their 
boats  thereon. 

"But,  after  their  father's  decease,  his  sons, 
grown  to  manhood — progressive  in  unison  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age  —  conceived  the  project  of 
utilizing  the  great  body  of  water  flowing  idly  by. 
So,  calling  in  the  aid  of  a  famous  engineer,  they 
built  a  high  and  costly  dam  across  the  river,  thus 
creating  a  great  water-power  sufficient  for  the  use 
of  many  prospective  mills  and  factories. 

"  The  river — biding  its  time — quietly  allowed 
the  obstructions  to  be  finished ;  and  then  it  rose 
in  its  wrath  and  swept  away  the  expensive  struct 
ure  and  the  buildings  connected  with  it,  and  took 
its  course  majestically  to  the  sea. 

"  Nor  did  this  satisfy  the  offended  river-gods ; 
for  they  cut  a  new  channel  for  the  stream,  and 
swallowed  up  the  paternal  mansion  of  the  young 
men,  and  desolated  its  beautiful  grounds,  thus 
showing  the  superior  power  of  Nature  whenever  \ 
it  chooses  to  assert  itself." 


120  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

The  year  after  the  visit  just  described — being 
still  languid  and  debilitated  —  I  accepted  Haw 
thorne's  invitation  to  come  and  see  him  and  his 
family  at  Lenox  in  the  Berkshire  hills,  a  region 
famed  for  the  healthfulness  of  its  climate,  and  as 
the  home  of  the  Sedgwicks,  Fanny  Kemble  But 
ler,  etc. 

Fashion  had  not  then  invaded  these  lovely 
hills,  and  the  comparatively  small  society  was 
noted  for  its  simple  mode  of  living,  for  its  intel 
ligence,  and  its  culture. 

The  Hawthornes  occupied  an  old-fashioned 
cottage,  painted  deep  red,  and  overlooking  a 
charming  lake. 

There  were  a  great  many  deficiencies  in  the  ar 
rangements  of  the  quaint  old  house  and  grounds, 
for  which  I  had  a  quick  eye,  and  to  the  imme 
diate  remedying  of  which  Hawthorne  and  I  de 
voted  our  efforts.  Mrs.  Hawthorne  looked  on 
with  amused  approval  (even  when  our  perform 
ances  were  rather  revolutionary),  as  she  saw  us 
engaging,  with  great  glee,  in  improving  matters 
generally.  Boxes  were  turned  into  closets  and 
bookshelves,  and  the  cellar  and  hen-house  were 
not  neglected. 

A  letter  I  wrote  my  wife  from  Lenox  gives  my 
own  impressions  of  the  surroundings  of  the  Haw 
thornes,  and  of  our  occupations  during' my  very 
pleasant  visit : 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  121 

"  LA  MAISON  ROUGE,  July  18,  1850. 

"  CARA  MIA, — I  must  explain  the  meaning  of 
the  caption.  Be  it  known,  then,  that  Hawthorne 
occupies  a  house  painted  red,  like  some  old-fash 
ioned  farm-houses  you  have  seen.  It  is  owned 
by  Mr.  Tappan,  who  lived  in  it  awhile ;  but  he 
is  now  at  High-Wood,  the  beautiful  place  of  Mr. 
Ward.  The  old  farm-house  is  quite  comfortable, 
having  sufficient  room,  and  being  furnished  sim 
ply  and  in  good  taste.  All  the  surroundings  give 
proof  of  the  easy  circumstances  of  the  present 
occupants. 

"  The  view  of  the  lake  is  lovely ;  I  have  seldom 
seen  one  so  beautiful. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawthorne  are  most  friendly, 
and  my  visit  seems  to  give  them  much  satisfac 
tion. 

"  Nor  am  I  quite  useless.  I  have  planned  va 
rious  improvements  in  the  house  and  grounds, 
including  some  in  the  hennery,  where  the  nests 
and  roosts  are  now  arranged  according  to  the 
directions  of  the  best  authors  upon  that  useful 
subject.  To-morrow  we  are  going  to  make  some 
closets  and  book-shelves  of  the  boxes  in  which 
the  furniture  came.  As  I  am  not  so  strong  as 
before  my  fever,  Hawthorne  does  the  hard  work, 
such  as  lifting,  sawing,  etc.,  while  I  plan  and  ham 
mer.  Oh,  we  are  a  model  pair  of  working-men — 
the  Man  of  Genius  and  the  Naval  Officer ! 


122  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  The  children  behave  very  well,  and,  certainly, 
are  charming  youngsters.  Una  acts  like  a  little 
lady,  and  exhibits  good  temper  and  obedience  ; 
while  Julian  is  a  good-natured,  laughing  young 
giant. 

"We  intend  to  visit  High -Wood  at  an  early 
day,  and  thence  shall  drive  to  the  village,  if  we 
can  get  Mr.  Tappan's  vehicle. 

"  igth.  It  has  rained  all  the  forenoon.  Con 
sequently  we  have  been  at  work  in  cellar,  hennery, 
and  shed.  In  the  reorganized  hennery  our  labor 
has  already  been  justified,  for  no  less  than  three 
hens  have  shown  their  approval  of  it  by  each  lay 
ing  an  egg  in  a  new  and  scientific  nest. 

"  I  have  selected  two  boxes  for  the  children's 
closets,  besides  a  large  one  for  a  wardrobe,  and 
another  for  a  general  closet ;  and,  having  laid  out 
several  days1  work  for  somebody  in  papering,  etc., 
I  am  satisfied. 

"  We  have  cleared  up  the  wood-house  and  cel 
lar,  mended  some  chairs,  and  have  done  a  great 
deal  towards  making  the  establishment  *  ship 
shape  '  and  comfortable. 

"  You  must  not  think  that  I  am  exerting  my 
self  too  much.  Hawthorne  has  taken  the  hard 
est  part  of  the  work,  and  I  really  feel  all  the  bet 
ter  for  the  exercise.  ... 

"  Hawthorne  and  his  wife  both  send  kindest 
regards.  Ever  yours,  H." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  12$ 

As  the  "  House  of  the  Seven  Gables  "  was  at 
that  time  in  course  of  preparation,  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  the  fowls,  flowers,  and  vegetables 
of  the  Red-house  establishment  were  studies  for 
the  pictures  of  Phoebe's  garden  favorites. 

Hawthorne's  residence  at  Lenox  was  marked 
not  only  by  the  production  of  the  "  House  of  the 
Seven  Gables,"  but  by  that  of  the  "  Wonder-Book 
for  Girls  and  Boys,"  a  volume  of  three  hundred 
pages,  which  he  wrote  in  seven  weeks,  his  facil 
ity  for  labor  increasing  with  the  public  demand 
for  his  writings.  He  also  prepared,  at  that  place, 
a  second  volume  of  "  Twice-Told-Tales  "  and  be 
gan  the  "  Blithedale  Romance." 

A  few  days  after  leaving  Lenox  I  received  the 
following  letter,  which  has  in  it  an  amusing  touch 
about  the  effect  my  active  reforms  had  produced 
upon  the  children. 

"  LENOX,  Aug.  7,  1850. 

"...  Duyckink,  of  the  Literary  World,  and 
Herman  Melville  are  in- Berkshire,  and  I  expect 
them  to  call  here  this  morning.  I  met  Melville 
the  other  day,  and  liked  him  so  much  that  I  have 
asked  him  to  spend  a  few  days  with  me  before 
leaving  these  parts. 

"  We  all  have  very  pleasant  recollections  of 
your  visit.  Julian  broke  a  china  cup  a  few  days 
ago,  and  very  coolly  remarked  that  "  Mr.  Bridge 
could  mend  it." 


124  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  We  have  got  some  maple-paper,  and  shall 
soon  begin  the  transmutation  of  your  boxes. 

"  We  are  getting  along  very  well.  Una  and 
Julian  grow  apace,  and  so  do  our  chickens,  of 
which  we  have  two  broods.  There  is  one  diffi 
culty  about  these  chickens,  as  well  as  about  the 
old  fowls.  We  have  become  so  intimately  ac 
quainted  with  every  individual  of  them,  that  it 
really  seems  like  cannibalism  to  think  of  eating 
them.  What  is  to  be  done  ? 

"  With  our  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"LENOX,  March  15,  1851. 

"DEAR  BRIDGE, —  I  am  glad  to  hear  from 
you  at  last,  although  I  am  sorry  you  have  sunk 
into  the  depths  of  official  idleness,  and  have  ef 
fected  nothing  towards  the  new  edition  of  the 
"  Cruiser." 

"  You  know  not  what  fame  you  may  be  fling 
ing  away.  However,  all  that  shall  be  made 
up  in  a  journal  or  history  of  your  next  voy 
age.  But  I  do  most  heartily  wish  that  you 
would  cut  the  Navy,  and  trust  to  God  and  your 
own  exertions  for  a  good  life  at  home.  Even 
such  a  poor  house  and  poor  fare  as  mine,  for 
instance,  are  better  than  sea-biscuit  and  a  state 
room. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  125 

"  The  *  House  of  the  Seven  Gables,'  in  my 
opinion,  is  better  than  'The  Scarlet  Letter';  but 
I  should  riot  wonder  if  I  had  refined  upon  the 
principal  character  a  little  too  much  for  popular 
appreciation  ;  nor  if  the  romance  of  the  book 
should  be  found  somewhat  at  odds  with  the 
humble  and  familiar  scenery  in  which  I  invest 
it.  But  I  feel  that  portions  of  it  are  as  good  as 
anything  I  can  hope  to  write,  and  the  publisher 
speaks  encouragingly  of  its  success. 

"  How  slowly  I  have  made  my  way  in  life  ! 
How  much  is  still  to  be  done !  How  little 
worth — outwardly  speaking — is  all  that  I  have 
achieved !  The  bubble  reputation  is  as  much  a 
bubble  in  literature  as  in  war,  and  I  should  not 
be  one  whit  the  happier  if  mine  were  world-wide 
and  time-long  than  I  was  when  nobody  but  your 
self  had  faith  in  me. 

"  The  only  sensible  ends  of  literature  are,  first, 
the  pleasurable  toil  of  writing ;  second,  the  grati 
fication  of  one's  family  and  friends ;  and,  lastly, 
the  solid  cash. 

"  Remember  me  to  Mrs.  Bridge,  and  give  her, 
likewise,  my  wife's  remembrances.  I  shall  take 
advantage  of  a  visit  to  Dr.  Peabody  in  June  next 
to  go  to  Boston,  and  hope  to  have  a  meeting  with 
you  before  my  return. 

"The  boxes,  I  must  confess,  are  not  all  paper 
ed,  but  neither  are  they  all  unpapered ;  and  my 


126  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

wife  was  talking  of  doing  the  remainder  only  the 
day  before  your  letter  arrived. 

"Your  friend,  N.  H." 

"  LENOX,  July  22,  1851. 

1  "  DEAR  BRIDGE, — What  a  long,  long  while  since 
I  have  heard  from  you !  I  don't  know  when  it 
was,  or  which  of  us  wrote  last,  though  I  am, 
most  probably,  in  your  debt  for  a  letter ;  but  a 
weary  scribbler,  like  myself,  must  be  allowed  a 
great  deal  of  license  as  regards  debts  of  that 
nature.  Why  did  you  not  write  and  tell  me  how 
you  liked,  or  how  you  did  not  like,  the  *  House 
of  the  Seven  Gables '  ?  Did  you  feel  shy  of  ex 
pressing  an  unfavorable  opinion  ?  It  would  not 
have  hurt  me  in  the  least,  though  I  am  always 
glad  to  please  you  ;  but  I  rather  think  I  have 
reached  that  stage  when  I  do  not  care,  very  es 
sentially  one  way  or  the  other,  for  anybody's 
opinion  on  any  one  production.  On  this  last 
romance,  for  instance,  I  have  heard  and  seen 
such  diversity  of  judgment  that  I  should  be  al 
together  bewildered  if  I  attempted  to  strike  a 
balance.  So  I  take  nobody's  estimate  unless  it 
happens  to  agree  with  my  ownNl  think  it  a  work 
more  characteristic  of  my  mind,  and  more  proper 
and  natural  for  me  to  write,  than  *  The  Scarlet 
Letter"';  but  for  that  very  reason,  less  likely  to 
interest  the  public.  Nevertheless  it  appears  to 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  127 

have  sold  better  than  the  former,  and,  I  think,  is 
more  sure  of  retaining  the  ground  it  acquires. 
Mrs.  Kemble  writes  that  both  works  are  popular 
in  England,  and  advises  me  to  take  out  my  copy 
right  there. 

"  Since  the  first  of  June  I  have  written  a  book 
of  two  or  three  hundred  pages  for  children  ;  and 
I  think  it  stands  a  chance  of  a  wide  circulation. 
The  title,  at  all  events,  is  an  ad  captandum  one — 
'  The  Wonder-Book  for  Girls  and  Boys.'  I  don't 
know  what  I  shall  write  next.  Should  it  be  a 
romance,  I  mean  to  put  an  extra  touch  of  the 
devil  into  it,  for  I  doubt  whether  the  public  will 
stand  two  quiet  books  in  succession  without  my 
losing  ground.  As  long  as  people  will  buy,  I 
shall  keep  at  work,  and  I  find  that  my  facility 
for  labor  increases  with  the  demand  for  it. 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  published  a  little  work  two 
months  ago,  which  still  lies  in  sheets,  but  I  assure 
you  it  makes  some  noise  in  the  world,  both  by 
day  and  night.  In  plain  English,  we  have  an 
other  little  daughter ;  a  very  bright,  strong,  and 
healthy  miss  ;  but  at  present  with  no  pretensions 
to  beauty.  Sophia  intends,  in  the  course  of  two 
or  three  weeks,  to  take  the  baby  to  Mr.  Mann's 
in  West  Newton,  on  a  short  visit.  Una  will  ac 
company  her,  and  I  shall  remain  here  with  Ju 
lian.  After  her  return  I  shall  go  to  Boston,  and, 
if  you  should  be  still  at  Portsmouth,  I  will  run 


128  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

down  thither  to  see  you,  if  for  no  more  than  a  day. 
It  is  now  above  a  year  since  I  have  been  ten 
miles  from  this  place,  and  I  begin  to  need  a  lit 
tle  change  of  scene. 

"  We  intend  to  take  Mrs.  Kemble's  house  in  Oc 
tober  or  the  beginning  of  November.  She  offered 
it  last  year  for  nothing;  but  I  declined  the  terms. 
She  offers  it  now  for  the  same  rent  that  I  pay 
here ;  and,  though  this  is  inadequate,  yet  as  she 
cannot  let  the  house  on  any  other  terms,  or  to 
any  other  person,  I  see  no  impropriety  in  my  ac 
cepting  the  offer.  If  she  could  do  better,  I  would 
not  take  it.  We  shall  lose  a  beautiful  prospect, 
and  gain  a  much  more  convenient  and  comforta 
ble  house  than  our  present  one.  If  I  continue 
to  prosper  in  my  literary  vocation,  I  mean  to  buy 
a  house  before  a  great  while,  but  it  shall  not  be 
in  Berkshire.  I  prefer  the  sea-coast,  both  as  a 
matter  of  taste  and  because  I  think  it  suits  both 
Sophia's  constitution  and  my  own  better  than 
this  hill  country. 

"  Do  write  and  tell  me  of  your  welfare  and  pros 
pects.  I  am  afraid  you  will  not  be  able  to  read 
this  scrawl,  but  I  have  contracted  a  bad  habit  of 
careless  penmanship. 

"  With  our  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"Your  friend,  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

After  receiving  this  letter,  I  wrote  Hawthorne 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  129 

of  the  old  family  home  of  the  Sparhawks,  at  Kit- 
tery  Point,  which  was  then  for  sale,  and  was  not 
far  from  the  cottage  near  the  sea  which  I  had 
just  bought. 

"LENOX,  Oct.  n,  1852. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — The  Sparhawk  house  cer 
tainly  offers  some  temptations,  among  which, 
however,  I  do  not  reckon  that  hideous  story  of 
the  howling  dead  man,  but  I  shall  resist  them.. 
It  is  too  much  out  of  the  way.  I  have  learned 
pretty  well  the  desirableness  of  an  easy  access 
to  the  world ;  and  you  will  learn  it,  too,  if  you 
should  ever  actually  occupy  your  island  purchase. 
You  will  never  be  able  to  make  that  your  perma 
nent  home.  I  am  sure  of  it.  It  will  do  well 
enough  to  play  Robinson  Crusoe  for  a  summer  or 
so,  but  when  a  man  is  making  his  settled  dispo 
sitions  for  life,  he  had  better  be  on  the  mainland, 
and  as  near  a  railroad  station  as  possible. 

"My  'Wonder-Book,'  I  suppose,  will  be  out 
soon.  I  do  not  know  your  direction  in  Boston, 
so  cannot  send  you  one  unless  first  advised  there 
of;  but  will  tell  the  publishers  to  hand  you  one 
when  called  for.  I  have  also  a  new  volume  of 
'  Twice-Told-Tales '  in  press  and  a  new  romance 
in  futurity. 

"  We  shall  leave  here,  with  much  joy,  on  the 
first  day  of  December. 

"  With  our  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge,  whom 
9 


130  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

I  would  not  have  missed  seeing,  only  it  involved 
the  not  seeing  my  wife  the  next  day. 

"  Truly  yours,         NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

In  the  year  of  grace  1890  the  historic  "Red 
House  "  was  burned,  and  now  only  the  blackened 
ruins  near  the  lovely  lake  remain  to  mark  the  spot 
where  it  had  stood  so  long.  In  that  "  little  red 
shanty,"  as  Mrs.  Hawthorne  called  it,  Hawthorne 
wrote  the  "  House  of  the  Seven  Gables"  and  the 
"  Wonder-Book  for  Girls  and  Boys,"  and  there  he 
began  the  "  Blithedale  Romance."  In  that  house, 
too,  Rose  (now  Mrs.  Lathrop)  was  born.  To  that 
little,  low-studded,  yet  cheerful  dwelling,  for  near 
ly  forty  years  after  the  departure  of  the  man  who 
made  it  famous,  visitors,  in  yearly  increasing 
numbers,  resorted  as  to  a  shrine  of  genius  purely 
American.  Mr.  Tappan,  owner  of  the  place,  had 
the  good  taste  as  well  as  the  kindly  remembrances 
which  led  him  to  keep  the  study  in  the  same  state 
that  Hawthorne  left  it  in. 

"CONCORD,  Mass.,  Oct.  18,  1852. 
"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  received  your  letter  some 
time  ago,  and  ought  to  have  answered  it  long 
since,  but  you  know  my  habits  of  epistolary  de 
linquency,  so  I  make  no  apology.  Besides,  I 
have  been  busy  with  literary  labor  of  more  kinds 
than  one.  Perhaps  you  have  seen  '  Blithedale  ' 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  131 

before  this  time.  I  doubt  whether  you  will  like 
it  very  well ;  but  it  has  met  with  good  success, 
and  has  brought  me — besides  its  American  cir 
culation  —  a  thousand  dollars  from  England ; 
whence,  likewise,  have  come  many  favorable 
notices.  Just  at  this  time  I  rather  think  your 
friend  stands  foremost  there  as  an  American  fic 
tion-monger. 

"  In  a  day  or  two  I  intend  to  commence  a  new 
romance,  which,  if  possible,  I  mean  to  make  more 
genial  than  the  last. 

"I  did  not  send  you  the  'Life  of  Pierce,'  not 
considering  it  fairly  one  of  my  literary  produc 
tions. 

"  I  was  terribly  reluctant  to  undertake  this 
work,  and  tried  to  persuade  Pierce — both  by  let 
ter  and  viva  voce — that  I  could  not  perform  it  so 
well  as  many  others ;  but  he  thought  differently ; 
and,  of  course,  after  a  friendship  of  thirty  years, 
it  was  impossible  to  refuse  my  best  efforts  in  his 
behalf  at  this — the  great  pinch  of  his  life. 

11  Other  writers  might  have  made  larger  claims 
for  him,  and  have  eulogized  him  more  highly; 
but  I  doubt  whether  any  other  could  have  be 
stowed  a  better  aspect  of  sincerity  and  reality  on 
the  narrative,  and  have  secured  all  the  credit 
possible  for  him  without  spoiling  all  by  asserting 
too  much. 

"  Before  undertaking  it,  I  made  an  inward  res- 


132  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

olution  that  I  would  accept  no  office  from  him  ; 
but,  to  say  the  truth,  I  doubt  whether  it  would 
not  be  rather  folly  than  heroism  to  adhere  to  this 
purpose  in  case  he  should  offer  me  anything  par 
ticularly  good.  We  shall  see.  A  foreign  mission 
I  could  not  afford  to  take.  The  consulship  at 
Liverpool  I  might.  I  have  several  invitations 
from  English  celebrities  to  come  over  there,  and 
this  office  would  make  all  straight.  What  luck 
that  fellow  has  !  I  have  wanted  you  here  while 
writing  up  his  memoirs  for  the  sake  of  talking 
over  his  character  with  you,  as  I  cannot  with 
any  other  person.  I  have  come  seriously  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  has  in  him  many  of  the  chief 
elements  of  a  great  ruler.  His  talents  are  ad 
ministrative  ;  he  has  a  subtle  faculty  of  making 
affairs  roll  onward  according  to  his  will,  and  of 
influencing  their  course  without  showing  any 
trace  of  his  action.  There  are  scores  of  men  in 
the  country  that  seem  brighter  than  he  is;  but 
Frank  has  the  directing  mind,  and  will  move 
them  about  like  pawns  on  a  chess-board,  and 
turn  all  their  abilities  to  better  purpose  than  they 
themselves  could  do.  Such  is  my  idea  of  him 
after  many  an  hour  of  reflection  on  his  character 
while  making  the  best  of  his  biography.  He  is 
deep,  deep,  deep.  But  what  luck  withal !  Noth 
ing  can  ruin  him. 

"  Nevertheless    I   do    not   feel  very  sanguine 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  133 

about  the  result  of  this  election.  There  is 
hardly  a  spark  of  enthusiasm  in  either  party; 
but  what  there  is,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  is  on  the 
side  of  Scott.  The  prospect  is  none  of  the  bright 
est,  either  in  New  York,  Ohio,  or  Pennsylvania ; 
and  unless  Frank  gets  one  of  them,  he  goes  to 
the  wall.  He  himself  does  not  appear  to  admit 
the  possibility  of  failure  ;  but  I  doubt  whether,  in 
a  position  like  his,  a  man  can  ever  form  a  reli 
able  judgment  of  the  prospect  before  him. 

"  Should  he  fail,  what  an  extinction  it  will  be ! 
He  is  in  the  intensest  blaze  of  celebrity.  His  por 
trait  is  everywhere — in  all  the  shop-windows,  and 
in  all  sorts  of  styles — on  wood,  steel,  and  copper  ; 
on  horseback,  on  foot,  in  uniform,  in  citizen's 
dress,  in  iron  medallions,  in  little  brass  medals, 
and  on  handkerchiefs ;  and  it  seems  as  if  the 
world  were  full  of  his  not  very  striking  physiog 
nomy. 

"  If  he  loses  the  election,  in  one  little  month 
he  will  fall  utterly  out  of  sight  and  never  come  . 
up  again.  He  is  playing  a  terrible  game,  and  for 
a  tremendous  stake.  On  one  side  power,  the 
broadest  popularity,  and  a  place  in  history;  on 
the  other  (for  I  doubt  whether  it  would  not  prove 
a  knock-down  blow)  oblivion,  or  death  and  a  for 
gotten  grave.  He  says,  however,  that  he  should 
bear  defeat  with  equanimity.  Perhaps  he  might, 
but  I  think  he  is  not  aware  of  the  intense  excite- 


134  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

ment  in  which  he  lives.  He  seems  calm,  but  his 
hair  is  whitening,  I  assure  you.  Well,  three 
weeks  more  will  tell  the  story. 

"  By  the  by,  he  speaks  most  kindly  of  you, 
and  his  heart  seems  to  warm  towards  all  his  old 
friends  under  the  influence  of  his  splendid  pros- 
.pects.  If  he  wins  he  will  undoubtedly  seek  for 
some  method  of  making  you  the  better  for  his 
success.  I  love  him,  and,  oddly  enough,  there  is 
a  kind  of  pitying  sentiment  mixed  up  with  my 
affection  for  him  just  now. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  General  Pierce's  election 
to  the  Presidency,  in  1852,  he  offered  Hawthorne 
the  Liverpool  consulate,  an  office  then  considered 
the  most  lucrative  of  all  the  foreign  appointments 
in  the  Presidential  gift,  and  soon  after  his  inau 
guration  he  gave  him  that  place. 

With  his  family,  Hawthorne  sailed  for  England 
in  July,  1853. 

His  European  life  has  been  fully  described  by 
other  writers ;  yet  it  may  be  well  to  give  here  a 
few  of  his  letters  from  abroad,  which  speak  of 
his  annoyances  at  the  prospect,  and  subsequent 
realization,  of  the  decrease  of  his  official  emolu 
ments  by  legislation,  of  his  solicitude  for  the 
welfare  of  our  country,  and  of  some  other  mat 
ters  of  public  or  private  concern. 

"LIVERPOOL,  March  30,  1854. 

"  MY  DEAR  BRIDGE, — You  are  welcome  home, 
and  I  heartily  wish  I  could  see  Mrs.  Bridge  and 
yourself  and  little  Marian  by  our  English  fireside. 

"  I  like  my  office  well  enough,  but  any  official 


136  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

duties  and  obligations  are  irksome  to  me  beyond 
expression.  Nevertheless,  the  emoluments  will  be 
a  sufficient  inducement  to  keep  me  here,  though 
they  are  not  above  a  quarter  part  what  some  peo 
ple  suppose  them. 

"  It  sickens  me  to  look  back  to  America.  I  am 
sick  to  death  of  the  continual  fuss  and  tumult 
and  excitement  and  bad  blood  which  we  keep  up 
about  political  topics.  If  it  were  not  for  my  chil 
dren  I  should  probably  never  return^but — after 
quitting  office — should  go  to  Italy,  and  live  and 
die  there.  If  Mrs.  Bridge  and  you  would  go,  too, 
we  might  form  a  little  colony  amongst  ourselves, 
and  see  our  children  grow  up  together.  But  it 
will  never  do  to  deprive  them  of  their  native 
land,  which  I  hope  will  be  a  more  comfortable 
and  happy  residence  in  their  day  than  it  has 
been  in  ours.  In  my  opinion,  we  are  the  most 
miserable  people  on  earth. 

"  I  wish  you  would  send  me  the  most  minute 
particulars  about  Pierce — how  he  looks  and  be 
haves  when  you  meet  him,  how  his  health  and 
spirits  are — and  above  all,  what  the  public  really 
thinks  of  him — a  point  which  I  am  utterly  unable 
to  get  at  through  the  newspapers.  Give  him  my 
best  regards,  and  ask  him  whether  he  finds  his 
post  any  more  comfortable  than  I  prophesied  it 
would  be. 

"  I  have  a  great  deal  more  to  say,  but  defer  it 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  137 

to  future  letters.  Mrs.  Hawthorne  sends  her  love 
to  Mrs.  Bridge.  She  is  not  very  well,  being  un 
favorably  affected  by  this  wretched  climate.  The 
children  flourish,  and  will,  I  think,  be  permanent 
ly  benefited  by  their  residence  here. 

"  Write  me  often,  for  I  have  now  learned  to 
know  how  valuable  a  friend's  letters  are  in  a  for 
eign  land. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  April  17,  1854. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  trust  you  received  my  let 
ter,  written  a  fortnight  or  thereabouts  ago. 

"  As  you  are  now  in  Washington,  and,  of  course, 
in  frequent  communication  with  Pierce,  I  want 
you  to  have  a  talk  with  him  on  my  affairs.  O'Sul- 
livan,  who  arrived  here  a  day  or  two  ago,  tells  me 
that  a  bill  is  to  be  brought  forward  in  relation  to 
diplomatic  and  consular  offices,  and  that,  by 
some  of  its  provisions,  a  salary  is  to  be  given  to 
certain  of  the  consulates.  I  trust,  in  Heaven's 
mercy,  that  no  change  will  be  made  as  regards  the 
emoluments  of  the  Liverpool  consulate — unless 
indeed  a  salary  is  to  be  given  in  addition  to  the 
fees ;  in  which  case  I  should  receive  it  very  thank 
fully.  This,  however,  is  not  to  be  expected;  and 
if  Liverpool  is  touched  at  all,  it  will  be  to  limit 
its  emoluments  by  a  fixed  salary — which  will  ren- 


138  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

der  the  office  not  worth  any  man's  holding.  It 
is  impossible  (especially  for  a  man  with  a  family 
and  keeping  any  kind  of  an  establishment)  not 
to  spend  a  vast  deal  of  money  here.  The  office, 
unfortunately,  is  regarded  as  one  of  great  digni 
ty,  and  puts  the  holder  on  a  level  with  the  high 
est  society,  and  compels  him  to  associate  on 
equal  terms  with  men  who  spend  more  than  my 
whole  income  on  the  mere  entertainments  and 
other  trimmings  and  embroidery  of  their  lives. 
Then  I  feel  bound  to  exercise  some  hospitality 
towards  my  own  countrymen.  I  keep  out  of  so 
ciety  as  much  as  I  decently  can,  and  really  prac 
tise  as  stern  an  economy  as  ever  I  did  in  my  life; 
but,  nevertheless,  I  have  spent  many  thousands 
of  dollars  in  the  few  months  of  my  residence 
here,  and  cannot  reasonably  hope  to  spend  less 
than  six  thousand  per  annum,  even  after  all  the 
expenditure  of  setting  up  an  establishment  is  de 
frayed.  All  this  is  for  the  mere  indispensable 
part  of  my  living,  and  unless  I  make  a  hermit  of 
myself,  and  deprive  my  wife  and  children  of  all 
the  pleasures  and  advantages  of  our  English  res 
idence,  I  must  inevitably  exceed  the  sum  named 
above.  Every  article  of  living  has  nearly  doubled 
in  cost  within  a  year.  It  would  be  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world  for  me  to  run  in  debt,  even 
taking  my  income  at  $15,000  (out  of  which  all 
the  clerks,  etc.,  are  to  be  paid),  the  largest  sum 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  139 

that  it  ever  reached  in  Crittenden's  time.  He 
had  no  family  but  a  wife,  and  lived  constantly  at 
a  boarding-house,  and  nevertheless  went  home,  as 
he  assured  me,  with  an  aggregate  of  only  $25,000, 
derived  from  his  official  savings. 

"  Now  the  American  public  can  never  be  made 
to  understand  such  a  statement  as  the  above, 
and  they  would  grumble  awfully  if  more  than  six 
thousand  per  annum  were  allowed  for  a  consul's 
salary ;  yet  it  would  not  be  worth  my  keeping  at 
ten  thousand  dollars.  I  beg  and  pray,  therefore, 
that  Pierce  will  look  at  the  reason  and  common 
sense  of  this  business,  and  not  let  Mr.  Dudley 
Mann  shave  off  so  much  as  a  half-penny  from 
my  official  emoluments.  Neither  do  I  believe 
that  we  have  a  single  consulship  in  any  part  of 
the  world,  the  net  emoluments  of  which  overpay 
the  trouble  and  responsibility  of  the  office.  If 
these  are  lessened,  the  incumbent  must  be  com 
pelled  to  turn  his  official  position  to  account  by 
engaging  in  commerce — a  course  which  ought  not 
to  be  permitted,  and  which  no  Liverpool  consul 
has  ever  adopted. 

"  After  all,  it  is  very  possible  that  no  change  is 
contemplated  as  regards  the  large  consulships. 
If  so,  I  beg  Mr.  Dudley  Mann's  pardon. 

"Tell  the  President  that  I  was  a  guest  at  a 
public  entertainment  the  other  day,  where  his 
health  was  drunk  standing,  immediately  after 


140  NATHANIEL.  HAWTHORNE 

those  of  the  Queen  and  the  Royal  family.  When 
the  rest  of  the  party  sat  down,  I  remained  on  my 
legs  and  returned  thanks  in  a  very  pretty  speech, 
which  was  received  with  more  cheering  and  ap 
plause  than  any  other  during  the  dinner.  I  think 
it  was  altogether  the  most  successful  of  my  ora 
torical  efforts  —  of  which  I  have  made  several 
since  arriving  here. 

"  I  wish  you  would  get  some  of  your  Congres 
sional  friends  to  send  me  whatever  statistical 
documents  are  published  by  Congress,  and  also 
any  others  calculated  to  be  of  use.  I  am  daily 
called  upon  for  information  respecting  America, 
which  I  do  not  always  possess  the  materials  to 
give  in  a  reliable  shape. 

"  Your  friend  in  haste, 

HAWTHORNE." 


April  18,  1854. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE,  — 

*  *  =*  =*  * 

"To  drop  the  subject  of  my  official  emolu 
ments  and  take  up  your  own  affairs,  I  must  say, 
after  due  thought,  I  feel  somewhat  desirous  that 
you  should  remain  at  Washington,  not  on  your  own 
account,  but  on  Pierce's.  I  feel  a  sorrowful  sym 
pathy  for  the  poor  fellow  (for  God's  sake  don't 
show  him  this),  and  hate  to  have  him  left  with 
out  one  true  friend,  or  one  man  who  will  speak 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  141 

a  single  word  of  truth  to  him.  There  is  no  truer 
man  in  the  world  than  yourself,  and  unless  you 
have  let  him  see  a  coolness  on  your  part,  he  will 
feel  the  utmost  satisfaction  in  having  you  near 
him.  You  will  soon  find,  if  I  mistake  not,  that 
you  can  exercise  a  pretty  important  influence 
over  his  mind  ;  and  such  is  my  confidence  in 
your  good  judgment,  and  perfect  faith  in  your 
honesty,  that  I  doubt  not  your  influence  would 
be  for  his  good.  Of  course  it  requires  a  good 
deal  of  tact  to  fill  such  an  office  as  I  suggest,  but 
upon  my  honor,  so  far  as  actual  power  goes,  I 
would  as  lief  have  it  as  that  of  Secretary  of  State. 
At  all  events,  if  you  did  nothing  else,  you  might 
do  his  heart  good.  .  .  .  Regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge. 
"  Truly  yours, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  Dec.  8,  1854. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  send  the  leaves  from  an 
almanac  showing  the  British  consular  salaries,  as 
mentioned  in  my  last.  Of  course  these  are  in 
addition  to  the  official  fees,  which  are  mainly 
similar  to  our  own. 

"  Do  you  know  Captain  G ,  the  claimant 

on  the  Dutch  Government  ?  I  endorsed  a  draft 
of  ^30  for  him  in  order  to  enable  him  to  take 
passage  by  one  of  the  Cunard  steamers ;  and  he 
writes  me  that  he  has  been  unable  to  provide  for 


142  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

its  payment.  I  have  directed  Ticknor  to  pay  the 
draft,  and  have  requested  G—  -  to  hand  the 
amount  to  you  as  soon  as  he  may  be  able — which, 
I  fear,  will  not  be  in  a  hurry.  He  is  a  good  fellow 
and  of  honorable  intentions,  but  seems  to  be  in 
volved  in  great  difficulties.  He  is  at  present  in  or 
about  Washington.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  suggest 
to  him  the  payment  of  the  ^30  ;  but  only  to  stand 
ready  to  receive  the  money  should  he  offer  it.  I 
do  not  doubt  his  honorable  purposes,  but  very 
much  doubt  his  ability. 

"  I  should  really  be  ashamed  to  tell  you  how 
much  my  income  is  taxed  by  the  assistance  which 
I  find'it  absolutely  necessary  to  render  to  Amer 
ican  citizens  who  come  to  me  in  difficulty  or  dis 
tress.  Every  day  there  is  some  new  claimant  for 
whom  the  Government  makes  no  provision,  and 
whom  the  consul  must  assist,  if  at  all,  out  of  his 
own  pocket. 

"  It  is  impossible  (or  at  any  rate  very  disagree 
able)  to  leave  a  countryman  to  starve  in  the 
streets,  or  to  hand  him  over  to  the  chanties  of 
an  English  work-house  ;  so  I  do  my  best  for  these 
poor  devils.  But  I  doubt  whether  they  will  meet 
with  quite  so  good  treatment  after  the  passage  of 
the  Consular  bill.  If  the  Government  chooses  to 
starve  the  consul,  a  good  many  will  starve  with 
him.  Your  friend,  N.  H." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  143 

"  U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  Dec.  14,  1854. 
"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — The  real  and  substantial  ar 
gument  against  the  passage  of  the  Consular  bill 
is,  that  it  is  an  ill-considered  and  badly  contrived 
one.  It  was  .drawn  up,  I  presume,  by  Mr.  Dud 
ley  Mann,  whom— from  what  little  I  know  of  his 
doings — I  do  not  greatly  respect  as  a  public  offi 
cer.  Just  think  of  a  man  sitting  in  his  office  at 
Washington  and  arranging  salaries  all  over  the 
world,  of  his  own  mere  motion ;  without  a  single 
inquiry  into  the  peculiar  circumstances,  the  ex 
penses,  the  labor,  etc.,  attending  the  different 
positions  !  At  many  consulates  to  which  he  as 
signs  a  less  sum  than  to  mine,  there  would  be  a 
much  greater  balance  accruing  to  the  consul  on 
account  of  his  smaller  expenditure  in  clerk-hire 
and  office-rent.  A  thorough  preliminary  investi 
gation  should  be  made,  and,  after  ascertaining 
the  necessities  of  each  office,  the  whole  might 
be  arranged  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  custom 
houses  and  to  every  other  department  of  public 
business.  This  would  have  the  effect  of  making 
the  consular  clerks  the  servants  and  subordinates 
of  the  State  Department  instead  of  hangers-on  of 
the  consul,  as  they  now  are.  Should  the  pro 
posed  bill  pass,  it  cannot  possibly  stand  for  any 
length  of  time,  because  it  is  really  not  on  a  right 
principle  ;  but  it  would  be  very  little  comfort  to 
me  to  see  it  altered  a  year  or  two  after  I  go  out 


144  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

of  office.  I  apprehend  that  the  necessity  of  mak 
ing  some  addition  to  the  emoluments  of  diplo 
matic  officers  may  carry  through  these  consular 
measures — both  being  included  in  one  bill.  If 
they  could  be  separated  there  would  be  little 
hazard  of  the  passage  of  a  consular  bill,  during 
this  session  at  least. 

"  Finally,  if  the  bill  must  pass,  I  trust,  in  Heav 
en's  mercy,  that  it  will  not  take  effect  from  the 
signature  of  the  act,  but  from  the  beginning  of 
the  next  fiscal  year. 

"  I  admire  the  English  practice  in  these  mat 
ters.  When  an  office  is  suppressed,  they  pay  a 
liberal  compensation  to  the  incumbent,  or  pension 
him  off ;  and  they  never  diminish  the  income  of 
an  office  except  prospectively— to  take  effect  on 
the  appointment  of  a  new  man. 

"  My  best  regards  to  your  wife.  I  wish  our 
children  could  know  one  another;  but  this  does 
not  seem  very  probable  at  present.  Whether  I 
resign  the  consulship  or  not,  I  am  likely  to  spend 
a  long  time  abroad ;  for  I  can  live  economically 
in  Italy,  and  can  pursue  my  literary  avocations 
as  well  there  as  elsewhere. 
"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH   HAWTHORNE." 

"P.S. — Write  me  about  Pierce,  and  how  his 
health  and  spirits  are.  I  ought  to  write  to  him, 
but  it  is  a  devilish  sight  harder  to  write  to  the 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  145 

President  of  the  United  States  (especially  when 
he  has  been  an  intimate  friend)  than  to  a  private 
man.  It  is  my  instinct  to  turn  the  cold  shoulder 
on  persons  in  his  position." 

"U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  March  23,  1855. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  thank  you  for  all  your  ef 
forts  against  this  bill,  but  Providence  is  wiser 
than  we  are,  and,  doubtless,  it  will  all  turn  out 
for  the  best. 

"  All  through  my  life  I  have  had  occasion  to 
observe  that  what  seemed  to  be  misfortunes  have 
proved  in  the  end  to  be  the  best  things  that  could 
possibly  have  happened  to  me ;  and  so  it  will  be 
with  this — even  though  the  mode  in  which  it 
benefits  me  should  never  be  made  clear  to  my 
apprehension.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  desirable 
thing  enough  that  I  should  have  had  a  sufficient 
income  to  live  comfortably  upon  for  the  rest  of 
my  life,  without  the  necessity  of  labor ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  might  have  sunk  prematurely 
into  intellectual  sluggishness — which  now  there 
will  be  no  danger  of  my  doing ;  though,  with  a 
house  and  land  of  my  own,  and  a  good  little  sum 
at  interest  beside,  I  need  not  be  under  very  great 
anxiety  for  the  future.  When  I  contrast  my  pres 
ent  situation  with  what  it  was  five  years  ago,  I  see 
a  vast  deal  to  be  thankful  for ;  and  I  still  hope 
to  thrive  by  my  legitimate  instrument — the  pen. 
10 


146  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  One  consideration,  which  goes  very  far  tow 
ards  reconciling  me  to  quitting  the  office,  is  my 
wife's  health,  with  which  the  English  climate  does 
not  agree,  and  which  I  hope  will  be  greatly  ben 
efited  by  a  winter  in  Italy.  In  short,  we  have 
wholly  ceased  to  regret  the  action  of  Congress 
(which  nevertheless  was  most  unjust  and  absurd), 
and  are  looking  at  matters  on  the  bright  side. 
***** 

"  I  don't  see  how  the  next  consul  is  to  get 
along  here,  unless  he  be  either  a  rich  man  or 
a  rogue.  God  knows  he  will  find  temptations 
enough  to  be  the  latter. 

"  Give  our  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge.  How 
I  wish  you  could  spend  the  next  two  years  with 
us  in  Italy.  Truly  your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"  LIVERPOOL,  April  13,  1855. 
***** 

"We  are  in  good  spirits — my  wife  and  I — 
about  official  emoluments.  I  shall  have  about 
as  much  money  as  will  be  good  for  me.  Enough 
to  educate  Julian,  and  portion  off  the  girls  in  a 
moderate  way,  that  is,  reckoning  my  pen  as  good 
for  something.  And,  if  I  die,  or  am  brain-stricken, 
my  family  will  not  be  beggars,  the  dread  of  which 
has  often  troubled  me  in  times  past. 

"  I  pray  Heaven  that  your  little  girl  is  doing 


HORATIO    BRIDGE 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  147 

well.     We  have  been  rather  alarmed  about  her 
ever  since  you  wrote  that  she  had  a  congestion 
of  the  lungs,  at  least  my  wife  has,  and  she  alarmed 
me.     But  we  hope  and  pray  for  the  best. 
"  With  our  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Your  friend,  N.  H." 

"  LIVERPOOL,  April  26,  1855. 
"  MY  DEAR  BRIDGE, — May  God  support  you 
and  your  wife  in  this  great  affliction.  I  hardly 
feel  as  if  so  old  a  friend  as  myself  could  venture 
a  word  of  consolation ;  but,  some  time  or  other, 
I  trust  you  will  be  able  to  feel  that,  though  it  is 
good  to  have  a  dear  child  on  earth,  it  is  likewise 
good  to  have  one  safe  in  Heaven.  She  will 
await  you  there,  and  it  will  seem  like  home  to 
you  now.  My  wife  joins  with  me  in  the  deepest 
sympathy  for  you  and  yours. 

"  Most  affectionately, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

The  health  of  Mrs.  Hawthorne,  always  delicate, 
being  unfavorably  affected  by  the  English  climate, 
the  President,  in  1855,  considerately  thought  it 
might  be  beneficial  to  her,  as  well  as  gratifying 
to  her  husband,  if  he  were  transferred  to  a  post 
where  the  climate  was  milder,  and  where  Haw 
thorne  himself  would  hold  a  diplomatic  instead 
of  a  consular  position. 


148  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

As  I  was  then  stationed  in  Washington,  the 
President  authorized  me  to  offer,  in  a  private  let 
ter  to  Hawthorne,  the  appointment  of  Charge- 
d'Affaires  at  Lisbon. 

The  subjoined  letters  show  the  considerations 
that  governed  the  decision  arrived  at. 

"  U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  August  24,  1855. 
"  MY  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  do  not  find  it  easy  to 
come  to  any  conclusion  as  respects  the  matter 
broached  in  your  last.  Many  objections  occur 
to  me;  for  instance,  my  unacquaintance  with 
diplomacy,  and  my  dislike  of  the  forms  and  cere 
monies  amid  which  diplomatists  spend  their  time; 
also  that  I  do  not  understand  the  Portuguese  lin 
go,  and  have  not  any  practice  in  French  as  a 
spoken  language.  Furthermore,  it  is  a  question 
whether  Pierce  can  show  me  any  further  favors 
without  exciting  the  remark  that  he  is  doing  too 
much  for  a  private  friend.  It  is  also  a  question 
with  me  whether  I  can  afford  to  take  the  office, 
it  being  still,  according  to  Cushing's  opinion,  a 
mere  charge-ship  with  only  $4500  salary;  and 
such  it  must  remain  for  some  months  to  come. 
I  am  inclined  to  think,  therefore,  that  I  had  bet 
ter  hold  on  for  another  year  to  my  consulship, 
and  suffer  the  forfeiture  of  salary  during  my  ab 
sence  on  the  Continent,  since  it  cannot  be  helped. 
I  should  not  wish  to  keep  the  Portuguese  mission 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  149 

more  than  a  year,  and  I  think  it  would  not  pay 
its  expenses  for  that  time.  But  it  was  a  most 
kind  and  generous  thing  in  the  President  to  en 
tertain  the  idea  of  transferring  me  thither,  and 
you  must  express  to  him  my  sense  of  his  kind 
ness.  My  stay  on  the  Continent  will  not  proba 
bly  be  very  long.  I  shall  merely  establish  Mrs. 
Hawthorne  there,  and  return. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  so  delightful  to 
carry  her  to  a  delicious  climate,  and  to  remain 
there  with  her,  that  I  feel  no  small  hesitation 
in  absolutely  deciding  to  refuse  the  Portuguese 
place,  should  it  be  offered  me.  I  hope  Pierce 
will  not  offer  it,  for  I  cannot  answer  for  myself 
that  I  shall  do  what  really  seems  to  me  the  wisest 
thing — that  is,  refuse  it. 

"  You  will  observe  that  the  higher  rank  and 
position  of  a  minister,  as  compared  with  a  con 
sul,  have  no  weight  with  me.  This  is  not  the 
kind  of  honor  of  which  I  am  ambitious. 

"  With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"  U.  S.  CONSULATE,  LIVERPOOL,  August  31,  1855. 
"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  wrote  you  per  last  steamer, 
in  reference  to  what  you  suggested  about  the  Lis 
bon  mission.     My  ideas  have  not  changed  as  re 
spects  the  inexpediency  of  my  taking  that  post, 


150  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

should  it  be  offered  me.  I  shall  act  more  wisely 
to  remain  here,  where  I  have  gained  some  facility 
in  transacting  the  business  ;  and  (unless  Congress 
interferes  unfavorably  with  the  present  arrange 
ment)  I  think  this  consulate  will  be  as  good  as 
the  Lisbon  mission,  in  a  pecuniary  way. 

"  But,  though  I  conclude  not  to  go  thither  my 
self,  I  am  going  to  send  Mrs.  Hawthorne  to  Lisbon 
in  my  stead.  The  O'Sullivans  have  earnestly 
invited  her  to  come ;  and  as  they  spent  a  con 
siderable  time  with  us  in  England,  she  is  on  the 
most  affectionate  terms  with  them,  and  has  con 
sented  to  go.  This  relieves  me  of  a  very  great 
care  and  anxiety.  It  is  not  improbable  that  I 
shall  wish  to  pay  her  a  short  visit  before  spring, 
but  I  might  go  and  come  in  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks.  Julian  remains  with  me  in  England.  Mrs. 
Hawthorne  and  the  other  two  children  will  prob 
ably  sail  in  the  course  of  a  month.  If  O'Sullivan 
goes  to  Vienna  he  can  convoy  my  wife  to  Malta, 
or  to  any  part  of  Italy.  Her  health  is  better  than 
it  was,  but  I  think  it  best  to  be  on  the  safe  side 
by  sending  her  out  of  England. 

"  I  made  a  blunder  in  my  last  letter  to  you.  A 
new  appointment  to  Lisbon  would,  at  once,  enable 
me  to  receive  the  increased  salary  of  $7500.  I 
don't  want  it,  however. 

"  Truly  yours, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  151 

"  LIVERPOOL,  June  6,  1856. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE,— 

***** 

"You  will  see  by  the  newspapers  that  John  Bull 
is  in  a  pretty  high  state  of  excitement  in  relation 
to  American  affairs ;  but,  in  my  opinion,  Frank 
Pierce  has  taken  the  right  course  to  bring  mat 
ters  to  an  amicable  settlement.  The  recognition 
of  Walker  was  a  prudent  measure  as  well  as  a 
decided  one.  It  has  angered  the  British,  and 
has  mortified  them  to  the  heart's  core ;  but  it 
has  satisfied  them  that  we  are  in  earnest,  and 
that  their  further  action  will  be  in  peril  of  a  war, 
which  they  would  be  very  loath  to  encounter. 
They  show  unmistakable  tokens  of  backing  out. 
I  should  have  been  glad  if  intelligence  of  Graf- 
ton's  dismissal  had  accompanied  that  of  the  rec 
ognition,  for  it  seems  impossible  that  our  Gov 
ernment  can  mean  to  retain  him  there,  and  any 
delay  only  serves  to  keep  the  sore  open. 

"  I  am  expecting  Mrs.  Hawthorne  back  from 
Madeira  in  about  ten  days.  The  last  accounts 
of  her  health  have  been  encouraging,  but  I  see 
little  reason  to  think  that  she  will  be  able  to 
encounter  another  English  winter.  Unless  she 
proves  to  be  perfectly  cured  of  her  cough,  I  shall 
make  arrangements  to  give  up  the  consulate  in 
the  latter  part  of  autumn,  and  we  will  be  off  for 
Italy.  I  wish  I  were  a  little  richer ;  but  when  I 


152  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

compare  my  situation  with  what  it  was  before 
the  publication  of  the  '  Scarlet  Letter,'  I  have 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my  run  of  luck.  And, 
to  say  the  truth,  I  had  rather  not  be  too  prosper 
ous.  It  may  be  superstition,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  bitter  is  very  apt  to  come  with  the 
sweet ;  and  bright  sunshine  casts  a  dark  shadow. 
So  I  content  myself  with  a  moderate  portion 
of  sugar,  and  about  as  much  sunshine  as  that 
of  an  English  summer's  day.  In  this  view  of 
the  matter  I  am  disposed  to  thank  God  for  the 
gloom  and  chill  of  my  early  life,  in  the  hope 
that  my  share  of  adversity  came  then,  when  I 
bore  it  alone,  and  therefore  it  need  not  come 
now,  when  the  cloud  would  involve  those  whom 
I  love. 

"  I  make  my  plans  to  return  to  America  in 
about  two  years  from  this  timeX  For  my  own 
part,  I  should  be  willing  to  stay  abroad  much 
longer,  and  perhaps  even  to  settle  permanently 
in  Italy  ><>but  the  children  must  not  be  kept  away 
so  long  as  to  lose  their  American  characteris 
tics,  otherwise  they  would  be  exiles  and  outcasts 
through  life. 

"  Give  my  most  sincere  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge. 
I  shall  have  few  pleasanter  anticipations  when  I 
return  to  America  than  that  of  seeing  you  both. 
"  Your  friend, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  153 

"  LIVERPOOL,  June  20,  1856. 
***** 

"  You  pain  me  by  your  gloomy  view  of  politi 
cal  affairs,  but  I  have  great  hope  and  faith  that 
all  will  turn  out  well.  As  regards  our  relations 
with  England,  the  course  of  our  Government  de 
serves  all  praise,  and  the  result  is  a  triumph  that 
will  be  felt  and  recognized  long  hereafter.  Frank 
has  brought  us  safely  and  honorably  through  a 
great  crisis ;  and  England  begins  now  to  under 
stand  her  own  position  and  ours,  and  will  never 
again  assume  the  tone  which  hitherto  she  has 
always  held  towards  us. 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  arrived  at  Southampton 
about  a  fortnight  since,  in  much  better  health 
than  I  expected  to  see  her,  with  little  or  no 
cough,  or  other  disorder  of  any  kind.  She 
thinks,  with  great  certainty,  that  she  can  safely 
spend  another  winter  in  England,  and,  if  so,  I 
shall  not  resign  until  the  next  Administration 
comes  in.  She  is  now  staying  at  a  country-house 
near  Southampton,  but  I  shall  establish  her  in  the 
neighborhood  of  London  in  the  beginning  of  July. 

"  I  am  sorry  Frank  has  not  the  nomination  if 
he  wished  it.  Otherwise  I  am  glad  he  is  out  of 
the  scrape. 

"  With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


154  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  LIVERPOOL,  Dec.  19,  1856. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Your  being  located  at  Wash 
ington  may,  perhaps,  enable  you  to  assist  me  in 
a  matter  which  I  wish  to  have  suitably  arranged. 
I  do  not  wish  to  retain  the  consulate  for  any 
long  period  under  the  next  Administration ;  and 
I  intend  to  leave  England  for  the  Continent 
early  in  the  ensuing  autumn,  unless  Mr.  Buchan 
an  should  take  it  into  his  head  to  remove  me 
(which  I  do  not  see  why  he  should,  as  we  are 
personally  friends,  and  there  are  no  official 
grounds  against  me).  I  shall  resign,  to  take 
effect  on  the  thirty-first  of  August,  at  furthest; 
and  I  wish  the  fact  to  be  communicated  to  him 
at  the  proper  time,  as  he  will  doubtless  be  glad 
to  have  the  office  at  his  disposal.  If  he  wishes 
for  it  sooner  than  the  time  above  mentioned,  he 
will  have  to  make  the  vacancy;  and  in  view  of 
the  possibility  that  he  may  choose  to  do  so,  I  do 
not  like  to  do  what,  in  effect,  would  be  asking 
for  a  few  months  of  official  tenure ;  but  I  author 
ize  you  to  let  my  purpose  be  known  in  the  prop 
er  quarter,  and  I  shall  consider  myself  bound  in 
honor  to  resign  at  the  time  stated.  God  knows  I 
am  weary  of  the  office,  and  would  not  have  kept  it 
a  great  while  longer  under  any  circumstances. 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  and  the  children  are  now 
residing  in  Southport,  a  little  watering-place  in 
this  vicinity,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  her 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  155 

health  is  essentially  improved.     A  year  or  two  in 
Italy  will,  with  God's  blessing,  entirely  set  her  up. 
"  Remember  me  kindly  to  Frank  when  you  see 
him.     With  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Truly  yours,  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"  LIVERPOOL,  Jan.  15,  1857. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Yours  of  the  23d  ult.  is  re 
ceived,  and  I  have  read  it  with  much  interest.  I 
regret  that  you  think  so  doubtfully  (or,  rather, 
despairingly)  of  the  prospects  of  the  Union ;  for  I 
should  like  well  enough  to  hold  on  to  the  old 
thing.  And  yet  I  must  confess  that  I  sympathize 
to  a  large  extent  with  the  Northern  feeling,  and 
think  it  is  about  time  for  us  to  make  a  stand.  If 
compelled  to  choose,  I  go  for  the  North.  At 
present  we  have  no  country — at  least,  none  in 
the  sense  an  Englishman  has  a  country.  I  never 
conceived,  in  reality,  what  a  true  and  warm  love 
of  country  is  till  I  witnessed  it  in  the  breasts  of 
Englishmen.  The  States  are  too  various  and 
too  extended  to  form  really  one  country.  New 
England  is  quite  as  large  a  lump  of  earth  as  my 
heart  can  really  take  in. 

"  Don't  let  Frank  Pierce  see  the  above,  or  he 
would  turn  me  out  of  office,  late  in  the  day  as  it 
is.  However,  I  have  no  kindred  with,  nor  lean 
ing  towards,  the  Abolitionists. 


156  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

"  To  return  to  Frank  Pierce,  is  it  true  that  he 
thinks  of  returning  into  the  Senate  ?  I  see  noth 
ing  better  to  be  done.  He  must  have  an  occu 
pation,  and  this  would  give  him  one,  as  well  as 
dignified  and  useful  position.  And  it  would 
afford  him  an  opportunity  to  explain  himself  to 
the  country,  and  to  win  a  better  fame  than  he 
now  retires  with.  But  could  he  be  elected  ? 

"  I  wrote  to  you  a  short  time  since,  communi 
cating  my  purpose  to  resign  at  an  early  date, 
under  Buchanan's  Administration,  and  authoriz 
ing  you  to  communicate  the  purpose  to  the  Presi 
dent-elect.  I  think  by  next  steamer  (or  very 
soon,  at  any  rate)  I  had  better  write  a  formal  let 
ter  of  resignation,  and  send  it  to  your  care,  to 
be  delivered  as  soon  as  the  new  Administration 
comes  in.  My  successor  could  then  be  nomi 
nated  before  the  Senate  adjourns,  and,  on  many 
accounts,  I  should  like  to  know  who  it  will  be. 
He  will  have  a  difficult  post,  and  not  a  lucrative 
one,  for  my  English  clerks  will  retire  with  me, 
and  he  cannot  supply  their  places  with  Ameri 
cans  at  twice  the  expense.  The  new  consul 
should  be  a  hard-working  man  of  business,  for 
the  emoluments  of  the  office  will  no  longer  admit 
of  his  devolving  its  duties  on  subordinates.  It 
is  really  a  pity  that  such  a  comfortable  berth 
should  have  been  spoiled,  but  it  has  served  my 
turn  pretty  well. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  157 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  is  tolerably  well,  and  the 
children  perfectly  so.  With  kindest  regards  to 
Mrs.  Bridge, 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"  LIVERPOOL,  Feb.  13,  1857. 

"DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  enclose  a  letter  to  the 
President  (viz.  Buchanan,  but  I  cannot  address 
him  as  such  by  name  until  after  the  fourth  of 
March)  resigning  my  office,  to  take  effect  on  and 
after  the  3ist  of  August  next.  This  I  wish  you 
to  deliver  as  soon  as  you  think  proper  after  the 
Inauguration.  If  he  wants  the  office  sooner,  he 
is  welcome  to  remove  me  ;  but  I  should  suppose, 
as  it  could  not  be  done  without  some  slight 
odium,  that  he  would  prefer  my  offered  resigna 
tion. 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  and  the  children  are  all 
pretty  well,  and  still  continue  at  Southport. 
Mrs.  H.  and  myself  intend  to  travel  about  Eng 
land  and  Scotland  quite  extensively  between  now 
and  August,  and  we  shall  leave  the  children  at 
Southport  under  the  care  of  the  governess  until 
we  all  go  to  the  Continent  together. 

"  It  will  be  a  great  relief  to  me  to  find  myself 
a  private  citizen  again;  and  I  think  the  old  liter 
ary  instincts  and  habits  will  begin  to  revive  in 
due  season.  I  doubt,  however,  whether  I  pub- 


158  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

lish  a  book  until  after  my  return  to  the  United 
States,  which  probably  will  not  be  in  less  than 
two  years.  I  expect  to  live  beyond  my  income 
while  on  the  Continent,  but  hope  to  bring  myself 
up  again  after  my  return  with  my  literary  labor, 
and  the  economy  of  living  on  my  own  homestead. 
#  #  =*  *  * 

"  I  wish  you  would  see  Pierce,  and  beg  him, 
from  me,  to  say  one  word  to  Buchanan  in  ref 
erence  to  O'Sullivan.  He  has  spent  more  than 
his  income  during  all  the  time  that  he  has  been 
at  Lisbon,  until  since  the  commencement  of  the 
present  year.  If  turned  out  now  he  is  irremedi 
ably  ruined.  He  is  (as  Pierce  well  knows)  a 
most  excellent  Minister;  and  I  do  entreat  him, 
by  all  the  love  I  feel  for  him  (Pierce,  I  mean),  to 
do  O'Sullivan  this  kindness. 

"  My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge. 
"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

Early  in  the  third  year  of  Hawthorne's  resi 
dence  at  Liverpool  he  became  weary  of  his  posi 
tion,  and  contemplated  resigning  it.  He  had 
realized  enough  to  live  upon  "  with  comfortable 
economy" ;  his  income  from  his  literary  work  was 
considerable  and  increasing;  and  he  wished  to 
travel  about  England  and  Scotland,  and  to  spend 
some  years  upon  the  Continent  before  returning 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  159 

to  America.  The  consulate  had  become  less 
profitable,  and,  more  than  all,  the  climate  of 
England  had  proved  injurious  to  Mrs.  Haw 
thorne's  health.  This  last  and  weightiest  con 
sideration  was  obviated  for  a  time  by  an  invita 
tion  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  O' Sullivan  to  spend  the 
winter  with  them  in  Lisbon  and  Madeira.  So 
great  benefit  to  Mrs.  Hawthorne's  health  resulted 
from  the  visit  that  the  contemplated  resignation 
was  deferred  until  after  the  election  of  President 
Buchanan.  At  length  Hawthorne  determined 
to  resign,  and  he  authorized  me  to  inform  the 
President  of  his  purpose,  at  the  same  time  en 
closing  to  me  his  resignation,  which  was  duly 
delivered. 

In  the  September  next  ensuing,  a  new  consul 
was  sent  to  relieve  Hawthorne,  and  he  gladly  re 
turned  to  the  condition  of  a  private  citizen.  He 
had,  at  different  times,  held  three  offices  under 
the  United  States  Government,  viz.,  those  of 
Weigher  and  Ganger  in  the  Boston  Custom 
house,  of  Surveyor  in  the  Salem  Custom-house, 
and,  finally,  of  Consul  at  Liverpool.  In  all  these 
places  he  for  the  time  subordinated  his  finer  and 
higher  faculties  to  his  matter-of-fact  duties,  and 
applied  his  common-sense  to  the  prosaic  tasks 
that  those  commercial  offices  imposed.  In  all 
of  them  he  performed  his  obligations  faithfully, 
and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Government 


160  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

and  of  those  persons  with  whom  he  had  official 
intercourse.  I  received  the  following  letter  from 
Hawthorne  after  his  successor  had  been  ap 
pointed  : 

"LIVERPOOL,  Sept.  17,  1857. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — I  have  received  your  letter 
and  the  not  unwelcome  intelligence  that  there  is 
another  Liverpool  consul  now  in  existence.  It 
is  a  pity  you  did  not  tell  me  how  soon  he  will  be 
here,  for  that  is  a  point  which  must  have  a  good 
deal  of  influence  on  my  owrn  movements.  I  am 
going  to  set  out  for  Paris  in  a  day  or  two  with 
my  wife  and  children,  and  shall  leave  them  there 
while  I  return  to  await  my  successor.  Poor  fel 
low !  being  such  as  you  describe  him,  he  will 
soon  find  the  resources  of  the  consulate  too  nar 
row  for  him. 

***** 

"  I  expect  great  pleasure  and  improvement 
during  my  stay  on  the  Continent,  and  shall  come 
home  at  last  somewhat  reluctantly.  Your  pledge 
in  my  behalf  of  a  book  shall  be  honored  in  due 
time  if  God  pleases ;  but  I  doubt  much  whether 
I  do  anything  more  than  observe  and  journalize 
while  I  remain  abroad.  It  would  be  a  crowning 
pleasure  to  Mrs.  Hawthorne  and  me  if  Mrs. 
Bridge  and  you  could  join  us  in  Italy.  It  is 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  we  may  yet 
meet  there. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  l6l 

"  Mrs.  H.  and  the  children  are  now  a  hundred 
miles  off,  at  Leamington,  in  the  centre  of  Eng 
land,  or  she  would  cordially  join  me  in  regards 
and  remembrances  to  yourself  and  wife. 
"  Your  friend, 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


In  the  story  of  Hawthorne's  life  in  England, 
there  is  nothing  more  characteristic,  nothing 
more  noble,  than  his  care  for  those  Americans 
who  came  to  him  for  advice  or  aid.  Besides 
numerous  instances  of  generosity  never  heard  of 
by  the  public,  there  was  a  notable  one  in  the 
case  of  Miss  Delia  Bacon,  casually  mentioned  in 
"  Our  Old  Home,"  under  the  head  of  "  Recollec 
tions  of  a  Gifted  Woman." 

Without  assuming  any  credit  for  his  action  in 
the  case,  or  even  mentioning  his  disinterested 
aid  to  one  who  had  no  other  claim  upon  him 
than  that  she  was  a  lonely  and  friendless  country 
woman,  he  describes  her  patient  labor  in  pursuit 
of  what  she  devoutly  believed  to  be  the  true 
secret  of  Shakespeare's  identity. 

Whether  her  theories  were  wholly  visionary  or 
not,  she  had  the  courage  of  her  convictions,  op 
posed  as  they  were  to  the  settled  belief  of  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  she  lived  and  died  a  martyr 
to  the  truth  of  history,  as  she  regarded  it. 
ii 


1 62  NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE 

When  this  singular  woman  had  exhausted  all 
her  financial  means,  when  her  family  and  friends 
declined  to  assist  her  unless  she  would  give  up 
her  chimerical  pursuit  and  return  to  America, 
she  —  almost  despairingly  —  appealed  to  Haw 
thorne  ;  and  he  responded  in  a  manner  that  dis 
played  his  nobleness  of  heart,  by  the  way  in 
which  he  aided  the  forlorn  enthusiast  in  her 
direst  need.  It  gives  one  a  higher  estimate  of 
human  nature  to  hear  of  such  unselfishness,  such 
unwearied  patience,  and  such  rare  delicacy  as 
were  exhibited  by  Hawthorne  in  extending  the 
moral  and  material  aid  which  she  was  too  proud 
to  solicit. 

The  interesting  "  Life  of  Delia  Bacon,"  by 
Theodore  Bacon,  published  in  1888,  contains 
some  twenty  letters  of  Hawthorne — therein  for 
the  first  time  made  public — which  charmingly 
display,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Bacon,  "  the  noble 
generosity,  the  unwearying  patience,  the  exqui 
site  considerateness  with  which  for  two  years  he 
(Hawthorne)  gave  unstinted  help,  even  of  that 
material  sort  which  she  would  not  ask  for,  to  this 
lonely  countrywoman." 

In  a  postscript  to  one  of  these  letters  to  Miss 
Bacon,  Hawthorne  writes,  in  almost  apologetic 
terms :  "  You  say  nothing  about  the  state  of 
your  funds.  Pardon  me  for  alluding  to  the  sub 
ject,  but  you  promised  to  apply  to  me  in  case  of 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  163 

need.     I  am  ready."     Could  an  offer  of  assist 
ance  be  more  delicately  expressed  ? 

If  there  were  no  other  proof  of  Hawthorne's 
appreciative  regard  for  the  friendless,  it  shines 
forth  brightly  in  these  private  letters. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

IN  1860,  Hawthorne  and  his  family  returned 
to  America  after  a  seven  years'  absence,  and 
went  at  once  to  "  The  Wayside,"  his  Concord 
home,  where  he  resided  until  his  decease. 

The  following  letter  shows  his  deep  thank 
fulness  for  the  preservation  of  the  lives  of  Mrs. 
Hawthorne  and  the  children  during  their  long 
absence  abroad : 

"CONCORD,  MASS.,  July  3,  1860. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — Your  letter  has  just  reached 
me  ;  not  unexpectedly,  for  I  felt  quite  sure  that  I 
should  soon  hear  from  you. 

"  We  came  hither  directly  on  landing  from  the 
steamer.  I  have  not  left  Mrs.  Hawthorne  be 
hind,  nor  any  one  else  that  belongs  to  me,  for 
which  I  heartily  thank  God.  It  is  a  blessing 
which,  at  one  time,  I  scarcely  hoped  for. 

"My  friends  tell  me  that  I  am  very  little 
changed,  but,  of  course,  seven  years  have  done 
their  work.  The  most  perceptible  alteration  is  a 
moustache  of  Italian  growth. 

"  If  you  will  give  me  timely  notice  I  shall  come  to 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  165 

Boston  to  meet  you.    Give  all  our  kindest  regards 
to  Mrs.  Bridge,  and  believe  me  your  friend — as 

thirty-five  years  ago. 

"  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


Hawthorne,  on  his  return  from  Europe,  found 
the  nation  embroiled  in  an  angry  controversy  be 
tween  the  two  great  political  parties  of  the  day, 
and  he  viewed  with  the  utmost  solicitude  the  pre 
monitory  symptoms  of  civil  war,  apparent  in  the 
press  and  in  Congress. 

Early  in  the  year  next  following  the  war-cloud 
burst,  and  the  struggle  continued  for  four  years 
of  tremendous  effort  and  sacrifice  on  the  part  of 
those  who  strove  to  destroy  the  Union,  as  well  as 
of  their  opponents,  who,  happily,  were  able  to  pre 
serve  it.  

It  is  well  known  that  Hawthorne  was  a  Demo 
crat  in  principle.  He  was,  however,  neither  ex 
treme  nor  narrow  in  his  views,  nor  did  he  ever 
take  an  active  part  in  political  controversies. 
His  "  Life  of  Pierce  "  was  written  from  personal 
friendship  and  the  true  spirit  of  comradeship. 
Political  preference  had  little  controlling  force 
in  the  matter. 

In  regard  to  Hawthorne's  politics,  let  me  here 
revert  to  our  college  days  and  to  the  Presidential 
election  of  1824,  which  was  preceded  by  the  usual 


1 66  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

political  excitements,  into  which  boys,  as  well  as 
men,  entered  zealously.  The  students  showed 
their  individual  preferences  as  strongly  as,  and 
much  more  disinterestedly  than,  the  average  voter 
at  the  outside  polls.  At  that  time  Pierce,  Cilley, 
Hawthorne,  and  the  writer  were  enthusiastic  sup 
porters  of  General  Jackson. 

In  later  years,  when  the  doctrine  of  abolition 
was  prominently  brought  forward,  Hawthorne, 
like  conservative  men  of  all  parties,  was  out 
spoken  against  it.  He  held  that  the  Constitution 
was  valid  and  binding  upon  all  the  States,  and 
that  no  one  who  did  not  recognize  a  higher  law 
could  honestly  interfere  with  the  institutions  of 
the  Southern  States,  as  guaranteed  to  them  by 
the  Constitution. 

But  when  the  South  declared  for  disunion,  and 
fired  on  the  old  flag  at  Fort  Sumter,  Hawthorne, 
as  did  most  Northern  Democrats,  unhesitatingly 
took  his  stand  with  the  North,  and  strongly  es 
poused  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

Like  many  other  loyal  men,  he  almost  despaired 
of  success  ;  but  he  wished  to  "  fight  to  the  death 
for  the  Northern  slave  States,  and  let  the  rest  go." 
He  had  no  sympathy  with  the  South  during  the 
rebellion,  but  he  rejoiced  in  every  Union  victory, 
and  approved  and  applauded  the  granting  of  lib 
eral  military  supplies,  and  the  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  war.  In  short,  he  was  a  Democrat  before 
the  rebellion,  a  War  Democrat  after  it  broke  out. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MY  own  duties  as  Paymaster-General  in  charge 
of  a  naval  bureau  at  Washington  were  too  ardu 
ous  and  engrossing  to  allow  much  time  to  be 
given  to  private  matters  either  of  interest  or 
friendship,  yet  I  was  glad  to  have  a  month's  visit 
from  Hawthorne  in  March  and  April  of  1862. 

He  went  occasionally  to  Congress,  to  the 
White  House,  and  to  other  places  of  interest  in 
Washington.  He  visited  some  of  the  neighbor 
ing  battle-fields  in  company  with  Mrs.  Bridge 
and  Dicey,  the  English  writer,  and  he  made  an 
excursion  to  McClellan's  headquarters,  another 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  a  steamer  trip  with  me  to 
Norfolk. 

During  his  visit  he  met  many  distinguished 
men,  and  gained  a  much  clearer  view  of  the  war 
than  he  had  before.  His  clever  article  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  in  1862,  entitled  "Chiefly  About 
War  Matters,"  embodied  the  results  of  his  ob 
servations. 

The  letter  next  following  speaks  of  the  Way 
side,  which  was  just  finished,  and  gives  some  of 


l68  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

Hawthorne's  views  in  relation  to  the  war,  as  do 
the  two  letters  immediately  following  it. 

"CONCORD,  May  26,  1861. 

***** 

"  I  am  about  making  the  final  disbursements 
on  account  of  my  house,  which,  of  course,  has 
cost  me  three  times  the  sum  calculated  upon.  I 
suppose  every  man,  in  summing  up  the  cost  of  a 
house,  feels  considerably  like  a  fool ;  but  it  is  the 
first  time,  and  will  be  the  last,  that  I  make  a  fool 
of  myself  in  this  particular  way.  At  any  rate,  the 
result  is  a  pretty  and  convenient  house  enough, 
no  larger  than  was  necessary  for  my  family  and 
an  occasional  friend,  and  no  finer  than  a  modest 
position  in  life  demands.  The  worst  of  it  is,  I 
must  give  up  all  thoughts  of  drifting  about  the 
world  any  more,  and  try  to  make  myself  at  home 
in  one  dull  spot. 

"  It  is  rather  odd,  with  all  my  tendency  to  stick 
in  one  place,  I  yet  find  great  delight  in  frequent 
change ;  so  that,  in  this  point  of  view,  I  had 
better  not  have  burdened  myself  with  taking  a 
house  upon  my  back.  Such  change  of  quarters 
as  makes  up  the  life  of  you  naval  men  might  have 
suited  me. 

"  The  war,  strange  to  say,  has  had  a  beneficial 
effect  upon  my  spirits,  which  were  flagging  wo- 
fully  before  it  broke  out.  But  it  was  delightful 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  169 

to  share  in  the  heroic  sentiment  of  the  time, 
and  to  feel  that  I  had  a  country — a  consciousness 
which  seemed  to  make  me  young  again.  One 
thing,  as  regards  this  matter,  I  regret,  and  one  I 
am  glad  of.  The  regrettable  thing  is  that  I  am 
too  old  to  shoulder  a  musket  myself,  and  the  joy 
ful  thing  is  that  Julian  is  too  young.  He  drills 
constantly  with  a  company  of  lads,  and  he  means 
to  enlist  as  soon  as  he  reaches  the  minimum  age ; 
but  I  trust  that  we  shall  either  be  victorious  or 
vanquished  before  that  time.  Meantime  (though 
I  approve  of  the  war  as  much  as  any  man),  I 
don't  quite  understand  what  we  are  fighting  for, 
or  what  definite  result  can  be  expected.  If  we 
pummel  the  South  ever  so  hard,  they  will  love  us 
none  the  better  for  it ;  and  even  if  we  subjugate 
them,  our  next  step  should  be  to  cut  them  adrift. 
If  we  are  fighting  for  the  annihilation  of  slavery, 
to  be  sure,  it  may  be  a  wise  object,  and  offers  a 
tangible  result,  and  the  only  one  which  is  con 
sistent  with  a  future  reunion  between  North  and 
South.  A  continuance  of  the  war  would  soon 
make  this  plain  to  us,  and  we  should  see  the  ex 
pediency  of  preparing  our  black  brethren  for  fut 
ure  citizenship  by  allowing  them  to  fight  for  their 
own  liberties  and  educating  them  through  heroic 
influences. 

"  Whatever  happens  next,  I  must  say  that  I  re-    | 
joice  that  the  old  Union  is  smashed,  f  We  never    \ 


1 70  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

were  one  people,  and  never  really  had  a  country 
since  the  Constitution  was  formed. 

"  I  trust  you  mean  to  come   and  bring  Mrs. 
Bridge  to  see  us  this  summer.     I  shall  like  my 
house  twice  as  well  when  you  have  looked  at  it. 
We  are  all  well.     Write  again. 
"  Your  friend, 

u  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"CONCORD,  Oct.  12,  1861. 
"  DEAR  BRIDGE, — 

%  *  *  *  =& 

*'  I  am  glad  you  take  such  a  hopeful  view  of 
our  national  prospects  so  far  as  regards  the  war ; 
but  my  own  opinion  is  that  no  nation  ever  came 
safe  and  sound  through  such  a  confounded  diffi 
culty  as  this  of  ours.  For  my  part  I  don't  hope, 
nor  indeed  wish,  to  see  the  Union  restored  as  it 
was.  Amputation  seems  to  me  much  the  better 
plan,  and  all  we  ought  to  fight  for  is  the  liberty 
of  selecting  the  point  where  our  diseased  mem 
bers  shall  be  lop't  off.  I  would  fight  to  the  death 
for  the  Northern  Slave  States  and  let  the  rest  go. 

"  I  fully  expected  that  you  would  pay  me  at 
least  a  flying  visit  while  at  the  North  this  sum 
mer,  but  I  suppose  your  time  was  brief  and  filled 
up  with  more  essential  matters. 

"  I  have  not  found  it  possible  to  occupy  my 
mind  with  its  usual  trash  and  nonsense  during 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  17 1 

these  anxious  times,  but,  as  the  autumn  advances, 
I  find  myself  sitting  down  to  my  desk  and  blot 
ting  successive  sheets  of  paper,  as  of  yore.  Very 
likely  I  may  have  something  ready  for  the  pub 
lic  long  before  the  public  is  ready  to  receive  it. 

"  We  are  all  very  well,  and,  in  spite  of  public 
troubles,  have  spent  a  quiet  and  happy  summer. 
I  am  glad  Mrs.  Bridge  has  had  a  little  respite 
from  Washington  life,  and  heartily  wish  you  had 
been  with  her.  But  honest  men  are  of  too  much 
value  and  too  rare  to  be  spared  from  their  posts 
in  these  times. 

"  Do  write  again,  and  enlighten  me  so  far  as 
you  may  as  to  what  is  going  on. 

"  Your  friend,  NATH  HAWTHORNE." 

"  CONCORD,  Feb.  14,  1862. 

"  DEAR  BRIDGE, —  Your  proposition  that  I 
should  pay  a  visit  to  Washington  is  very  tempt 
ing,  and  I  should  accept  it  if  it  were  not  for  sev 
eral  *ifs' — neither  of  them,  perhaps,  a  sufficient 
obstacle  in  itself,  but,  united,  pretty  difficult  to 
overcome.  For  instance,  I  am  not  very  well, 
being  mentally  and  physically  languid  ;  but  I 
suppose  there  is  about  an  even  chance  that  the 
trip  and  change  of  scene  might  supply  the  energy 
which  I  lack.  Also,  I  am  pretending  to  write  a 
book;  and  though  I  am  no  wise  diligent  about 
it,  still,  each  week  finds  me  a  little  more  ad- 


172  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

vanced,  and  I  am  now  at  a  point  where  I  do  not 
like  to  leave  it  entirely.  Moreover,  I  ought  not 
to  spend  money  needlessly  in  these  hard  times, 
for  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  book-trade,  and 
everybody  connected  with  it,  is  bound  to  fall  to 
zero  before  the  war  and  the  subsequent  embar 
rassments  come  to  an  end. 

"  I  might  go  on  multiplying  '  ifs,'  but  the 
above  are  enough.  Nevertheless,  as  I  said,  I 
am  greatly  tempted  by  your  invitation,  and  it  is 
not  impossible  that,  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks, 
I  may  write  to  ask  you  if  it  still  holds  good. 
Meanwhile  I  send  you  enclosed  a  respectable 
old  gentleman,  who  my  friends  say  is  very  like 
me,  and  may  serve  as  my  representative.  If  you 
will  send  me  a  similar  one  of  yourself,  I  shall  be 
truly  obliged. 

"  Frank  Pierce  came  here  and  spent  a  night, 
a  week  or  two  since,  and  we  mingled  our  tears 
and  condolences  for  the  state  of  the  country. 
Pierce  is  truly  patriotic,  and  thinks  there  is  noth 
ing  left  for  us  but  to  fight  it  out,  but  I  should  be 
sorry  to  take  his  opinion  implicitly  as  regards 
our  chances  in  the  future.  He  is  bigoted  to 
the  Union,  and  sees  nothing  but  ruin  without  it ; 
whereas  I  (if  we  can  only  put  the  boundary  far 
enough  south)  should  not  much  regret  an  ulti 
mate  separation.  A  few  weeks  will  decide  how 
this  is  to  be,  for,  unless  a  powerful  Union  feeling 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  173 

shall  be  developed  by  the  military  successes  that 
seem  to  be  setting  in,  we  ought  to  turn  our  atten 
tion  to  the  best  mode  of  resolving  ourselves  into 
two  nations.  It  would  be  too  great  an  absurdity 
to  spend  all  our  Northern  strength  for  the  next 
generation  in  holding  on  to  a  people  who  insist 
on  being  let  loose.  If  we  do  hold  them,  I  should 
think  Sumner's  territorial  plan  the  best  way. 

"  I  trust  your  health  has  not  suffered  by  the 
immense  occupation  which  the  war  must  have 
brought  upon  you.  The  country  was  fortunate 
in  having  a  man  like  yourself  in  so  responsible 
a  situation — 'faithful  found  among  the  faithless.' 

"  I  wish  I  could  hear  from  you  oftener.  Shall 
you  come  to  New  England  next  summer  ?  If  so 
do  try  (with  Mrs.  Bridge)  to  pay  us  a  visit — the 
longer  the  better. 

"  My  wife  and  family  are  quite  well,  and  send 
their  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridge  and  your 
self.  Your  friend, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE. 

"  P.S. — I  ought  to  thank  you  for  a  shaded  map 
of  negrodom,*  which  you  sent  me  a  little  while 
ago.  What  a  terrible  amount  of  trouble  and  ex 
pense  in  washing  that  sheet  white,  and  after  all 

*  This  refers  to  a  map,  showing  the  proportion  of  ne 
groes  to  whites  in  the  different  slave  States,  as  indicated 
by  darker  or  lighter  shades. 


174  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

I  am  afraid  we  shall  only  variegate  it  with  blood 
and  dirt." 

After  his  month's  visit  to  the  capital,  Haw 
thorne  returned  home  much  improved  in  health 
and  spirits.  The  change  of  climate  and  scene, 
the  relief  from  literary  work,  and  the  excitement 
of  the  war- spirit,  effervescing  all  around  him, 
seemed  to  have  a  beneficial  effect  upon  him,  and 
he  went  back  to  Concord  with  apparently  renewed 
strength. 

"CONCORD,  April  13,  1862. 

"DEAR  BRIDGE, — Yours  enclosing  two  photo 
graphs  of  Prof.  Henry  is  received. 

"  I  reached  home  safe  and  sound  on  Thursday 
after  a  very  disagreeable  journey. 

"  It  was  a  pity  I  did  not  wait  one  day  longer, 
so  as  to  have  shared  in  the  joyful  excitement 
about  the  Petersburg  victory  and  the  taking  of 
Island  No.  10. 

"  I  found  the  family  in  good  health,  except  that 
Una  has  a  cold,  and  Rosebud  is  blossoming  out 
with  the  mumps,  which  the  other  two  children  will 
probably  take  in  due  course. 

"  They  all  think  me  greatly  improved  by  the 
journey  and  absence,  and  are  grateful  to   Mrs. 
Bridge  and  yourself  for  your  kind  attentions. 
"  Your  friend  ever, 

"NATH  HAWTHORNE." 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  175 

The  letters  just  given  show  that  though  Haw 
thorne  came  to  Washington  "feeling  not  very 
well,"  he  returned  greatly  improved  by  the  jour 
ney  and  the  social  life  at  the  capital. 

In  that  year  and  the  one  next  following,  he 
published  "  Our  Old  Home,"  and  did  some  other 
literary  work ;  but  the  springs  of  life  were  run 
ning  low,  and  the  great  brain  was  growing  tired. 

His  lassitude  increased,  and  he  failed  gradu 
ally  till,  on  that  last  journey  with  Pierce  towards 
the  White  Mountains,  the  volume  of  his  life  was 
closed. 

The  sad  news  reached  me  in  Washington  at  a 
time  when  I  was  confined  to  my  room  by  an  ac 
cident,  and  I  could  not  join  the  little  band  of 
devoted  friends  who  mournfully  bore  his  body  to 
its  resting-place  —  upon  the  hill-top,  and  under 
his  favorite  pines. 

Pierce's  regard  for  Hawthorne  was  warm  and 
tender  to  the  last,  and  it  became  even  more  af 
fectionate  as  the  end  drew  nigh.  The  health  of 
Hawthorne  had  been  gradually  failing  for  two 
or  three  years  until  May,  1864,  when  his  brain 
power  and  physical  strength  both  grew  languid, 
and  he  could  work  no  more.  The  ex-President 
("  Frank  "  of  our  college  days)  then  came  and 
took  him  away  towards  the  hill-country,  with  the 
faint  hope  that  the  mountain  air  would  reinvig- 
orate  him. 


176  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

Travelling  by  easy  stages  in  Pierce's  private 
carriage,  they  passed  through  the  region  so  fa 
miliar  to  Pierce  until,  on  the  i8th  of  May,  1864, 
they  reached  Plymouth,  N.  H.,  and  stopped  at 
the  Pemigewasset  House  to  rest  and  sleep. 

On  retiring  that  last,  sad  night,  they  occupied 
connecting  rooms,  with  the  door  between  them 
open.  Hawthorne  slept  quietly  at  first,  and 
Pierce  went  in  two  or  three  times  to  see  to  the 
invalid's  comfort.  The  last  time — about  four 
o'clock — he  found  him  lying  in  what  seemed  to 
be  a  quiet  sleep ;  but  the  heart  had  ceased  to 
beat.  Hawthorne  had  died — apparently  without 
a  struggle. 

The  following  letter  of  General  Pierce  gives 
an  interesting  and  affecting  account  of  Haw 
thorne's  last  journey  and  his  death  : 

"ANDOVER,  MASS.,  May  21,  1864. 

"Mv  DEAR  BRIDGE, — You  will  have  seen,  with 
profound  sorrow,  the  announcement  of  the  death 
of  the  dearest  and  most  cherished  among  our 
early  friends. 

"You  will  wish  to  know  something  more  of 
Hawthorne's  last  days  than  the  articles  in  the 
newspapers  furnish. 

"  He  had  been  more  or  less  infirm  for  more 
than  a  year.  I  had  observed,  particularly  within 
the  last  three  or  four  months,  evidences  of  di- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  177 

minished  strength  whenever  we  met.  The  jour 
ney,  which  was  terminated  by  Mr.  Ticknor's  sud 
den  death  at  Philadelphia,  was  commenced  at 
the  urgent  solicitation  of  friends,  who  thought 
change  essential  for  him.  Mr.  Ticknor's  death 
would  have  been  a  great  loss  and  serious  shock 
to  H.  at  any  time,  but  the  effect  was  undoubt 
edly  aggravated  by  the  suddenness  of  the  event 
and  H.'s  enfeebled  condition. 

"  About  three  weeks  since  I  went  to  Concord 
(Mass.),  and  made  arrangements  to  take  a  journey 
to  the  lakes,  and  thence  up  the  Pemigewasset 
with  my  carriage,  leaving  time  and  details  of  the 
trip  to  be  settled  by  circumstances  en  route. 

"  I  met  H.  at  Boston,  Wednesday  (nth),  came 
to  this  place  by  rail  Thursday  morning,  and  went 
to  Concord,  N.  H.,  by  evening  train.  The 
weather  was  unfavorable,  and  H.  feeble ;  and 
we  remained  at  C.  until  the  following  Monday. 
We  then  went  slowly  on  our  journey;  stopping 
at  Franklin,  Laconia,  and  Centre  Harbor,  and 
reaching  Plymouth  Wednesday  evening  (i8th). 
We  talked  of  you,  Tuesday,  between  Franklin 
and  Laconia,  when  H.  said — among  other  things 
— *  We  have,  neither  of  us,  met  a  more  reliable 
friend.'  The  conviction  was  impressed  upon  me, 
the  day  we  left  Boston,  that  the  seat  of  the 
disease  from  which  H.  was  suffering  was  in  the 
brain  or  spine,  or  both.  H.  walked  with  diffi- 
12 


178  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

culty,  and  the  use  of  his  hands  was  impaired. 
In  fact,  on  the  i;th  I  saw  that  he  was  becoming 
quite  helpless,  although  he  was  able  to  ride,  and, 
I  thought,  more  comfortable  in  the  carriage  with 
gentle  motion  than  anywhere  else ;  for,  whether 
in  bed  or  up,  he  was  very  restless.  I  had  de 
cided,  however,  not  to  pursue  our  journey  be 
yond  Plymouth,  which  is  a  beautiful  place,  and 
thought,  during  our  ride  Wednesday,  that  I 
would  the  next  day  send  for  Mrs.  Hawthorne 
and  Una  to  join  us  there.  Alas  !  there  was  no 
next  day  for  our  friend. 

"  We  arrived  at  Plymouth  about  six  o'clock. 
After  taking  a  little  tea  and  toast  in  his  room, 
and  sleeping  for  nearly  an  hour  upon  the  sofa,  he 
retired.  A  door  opened  from  my  room  to  his, 
and  our  beds  were  not  more  than  five  or  six  feet 
apart.  I  remained  up  an  hour  or  two  after  he 
fell  asleep.  He  was  apparently  less  restless  than 
the  night  before.  The  light  was  left  burning 
in  my  room — the  door  open — and  I  could  see 
him  without  moving  from  my  bed.  I  went,  how 
ever,  between  one  and  two  o'clock  to  his  bedside, 
and  supposed  him  to  be  in  a  profound  slumber. 
His  eyes  were  closed,  his  position  and  face  per 
fectly  natural.  His  face  was  towards  my  bed.  I 
awoke  again  between  three  and  four  o'clock,  and 
was  surprised— as  he  had  generally  been  restless 
— to  notice  that  his  position  was  unchanged — 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  179 

exactly  the  same  that  it  was  two  hours  before. 
I  went  to  his  bedside,  placed  my  hand  upon 
his  forehead  and  temple,  and  found  that  he  was 
dead.  He  evidently  had  passed  from  natural 
sleep  to  that  sleep  from  which  there  is  no  wak 
ing,  without  suffering,  and  without  the  slightest 
movement. 

"  I  came  from  Plymouth  yesterday  and  met 
Julian  in  Boston.  He  said  that  his  mother  and 
sisters  were  wonderfully  sustained  and  com 
posed. 

"  The  funeral  is  to  take  place  at  Concord, 
Monday,  at  one  o'clock.  I  wish  you  could  be 
there.  I  go  to  Lowell  this  afternoon,  and  shall 
drive  across  the  country  to  C.  to-morrow  evening. 
I  need  not  tell  you  how  lonely  I  am,  and  how 
full  of  sorrow. 

"  Give  my  love  to  Mrs.  Bridge. 
"  Your  friend, 

"  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 

"  H.  BRIDGE,  ESQ.,  Washington,  D.  C." 

Five  years  after  Hawthorne's  death  Pierce  him 
self  died. 

I  trust  that  it  will  not  be  considered  out  of 
place  for  me  to  give  General  Pierce's  description 
of  his  own  ill-health,  and  his  recollections  of  his 
old  friends  and  compeers,  as  in  his  last  year  he 
realized  that  his  end  drew  nigh. 


l8o  NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE 

In  a  letter,  dated  a  year  before  his  death,  he 
wrote  as  follows : 

"CONCORD,   N.   H.,  Oct.   II,    1868. 

"Mv  DEAR  BRIDGE,  —  It  was  refreshing  to 
glance  at  your  note  of  the  3ist  ult.  But  I  can 
only  acknowledge ;  I  cannot  reply  to  it. 

"  I  do  not  spring  up  readily  from  my  serious 
illness.  My  friends,  who  are  around  me,  seem 
to  think  that  I  am  regaining  strength  as  fast  as  I 
ought  to  expect,  at  my  period  of  life ;  while  it 
seems  to  me  that  about  all  that  can  be  said  is 
that,  within  the  last  few  days,  I  am  holding  my 
own. 

"  Oct.  1 5th. — I  was  obliged  to  drop  this  on  the 
day  of  its  date,  and  have  not  much  strength  now. 
When  the  physicians  said  I  was  convalescent, 
two  weeks  ago,  I  supposed  I  might  be  quite  on 
my  feet  again  by  this  time.  Does  it  ever  occur 
to  you,  Bridge,  that  we  are  rightly  classed  among 
the  old  men  now  ?  It  is  quite  certain  that  those 
who  were  not  old,  but  prominent,  during  my  day, 
and  those  who  were  in  the  early  struggle  with 
me — among  the  first  class  Mr.  Sullivan,  Mr.  Bart- 
lett,  Mr.  Jos.  Bell,  Mr.  Atherton,  Sr.,  and  Mr. 
Farley ;  and  among  the  second  Judge  Gilchrist, 
Mr.  Choate,  Atherton,  Jun.,  and  at  last  Mr. 
Norris,  Mr.  Wells — and  most  of  their  more  hum 
ble  compeers,  have  gone  before. 


HAWTHORNE  S    GRAVE 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  l8l 

"  I  do  not,  my  dear  friend,  look  upon  it  gloom 
ily,  but  sometimes,  when  I  seem  to  be  gathering 
up  vigor  so  slowly,  I  doubt  if  I  take  into  the  ac 
count,  fully  enough,  my  protracted  and  severe 
illness,  or  the  fact  that  nearly  sixty-four  years  of 
pretty  strenuous  life  have  passed  over  my  head. 
I  am  driving  out,  more  or  less,  daily,  and  can  re 
peat,  with  more  or  less  comfort,  '  Thou  art  my 
God,  my  time  is  in  thy  hand.' 

"  Give  my  love  to  dear  Mrs.  Bridge. 
"  Always,  early  and  late,  y'r  Friend, 

"FRANKLIN  PIERCE." 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death  Mrs.  Bridge  and 
I  went  to  see  General  Pierce,  who  was  then  lying 
ill  at  his  sea-shore  cottage.  He  was  too  weak  to 
leave  his  bed,  and  he  was  sadly  emaciated ;  but 
his  old,  bright  look  came  back  as  he  welcomed  us. 

When  we  took  our  leave — all  being  conscious 
that  it  was  for  the  last  time — he  raised  himself 
from  his  pillow  and  embraced  me  like  a  brother. 

And  thus  we  parted. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LETTERS  OF  MRS.  SOPHIA    A.  HAWTHORNE. 

UNQUESTIONABLY  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  owed 
much  of  the  success  in  his  career  to  the  cheerful 
aid  and  encouragement  of  his  wife.  She  held  up 
his  hands  when  he  was  listless  or  despairing,  she 
made  his  home  a  happy  one,  and  she  brought 
out  the  sunshine  of  his  nature  even  when  the 
clouds  of  life  were  darkest. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  Mrs.  Hawthorne 
was  a  woman  of  high  intellectual  gifts.  Capa 
ble  of  thoroughly  appreciating  her  husband's  rare 
qualities,  and  always  ready  and  earnest  to  cheer 
and  brighten  his  path,  their  union  was  most  for 
tunate,  and  the  world  owes  much  to  the  wife's 
felicitous  influence  over  her  gifted  husband  for 
the  results  of  his  literary  labors. 

I  have  thought  that,  as  a  corollary  to  the  fore 
going  sketches  of  Hawthorne,  some  of  his  wife's 
letters  to  me  might  fittingly  be  contributed,  in 
order  to  show  his  manliness  and  loving  devotion 
to  his  wife  and  family,  as  well  as  in  displaying 
more  fully  some  of  his  finer  characteristics. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  183 

"CONCORD,  July  4,  1845. 

"Mv  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter 
some  days  since,  which,  not  meeting  entire  ap 
proval  from  my  lord,  I  laid  aside.  It  was  only 
a  freak  of  fancy  that  was  condemned,  however, 
and  so  I  will  write  the  same  letter  over  again, 
with  that  omission,  for  in  all  matters  of  taste  and 
fitness  he  is  absolutely  correct.  I  must  say  to 
you  again  that  I  like  your  book  very  much  for 
various  reasons.  Its  truth  and  sincerity  and  un 
prejudiced  observation  make  it  valuable,  inde 
pendent  of  its  excellent  sense.  It  has  the  grace 
of  simplicity  and  ease,  and  is,  at  the  same  time, 
sufficiently  strong.  It  is  also  very  entertaining. 
I  am  extremely  fastidious  in  books,  and  am  sel 
dom  held  fast  by  one,  but  this  I  could  not  bear 
to  lay  down  whenever  I  had  a  moment  to  read  it. 
For  your  sake  I  am  glad  your  cruise  ended  so 
soon  ;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  the  public,  I  could 
wish  it  had  been  longer,  that  we  might  have  had 
two  volumes  instead  of  one.  There  cannot  be 
too  much  of  such  true  and  living  history  of  coun 
tries  and  peoples. 

"  How  impossible  to  find  the  limit  to  the  con 
sequences  of  a  good  action  !  Through  your  mag 
nanimous  desire  to  benefit  my  husband  you  have 
given  the  public  a  pleasant  glimpse  of  Africa. 
Now  my  husband  has  returned  your  favor  of  the 
past  with  regard  to  his  '  Twice-Told-Tales.'  You 


184  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

first  procured  his  appearance  in  a  book,  and  now 
he  introduces  you  in  a  fair  volume  to  the  pres 
ent  age. 

"  With  regard  to  our  visit  to  you,  I  fear  you 
know  not  what  you  undertake.  Unless  I  have 
a  servant  with  me  I  cannot  go,  and  a  servant 
would  make  our  party  too  large.  I  know  that 
your  hospitality  is  as  magnificent  as  that  of  the 
Grecian  hero  who  slew  an  hundred  beeves  to  en 
tertain  his  guests ;  but  this  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  be  abused.  There  would  still  be  an  ad 
vantage  in  my  taking  my  woman,  because  she 
would  take  the  whole  care  of  us,  and  we  should 
be  no  additional  trouble  to  your  domestics.  But 
are  not  four  of  us  too  many  ?  I  wish,  too,  you 
would  tell  me  about  the  military  arrangement  of 
your  citadel.  Is  there  a  great  deal  of  martial 
music  and  parade,  so  that  Una's  sleep  would  be 
murthered  every  noon  ?  Her  little  life  is  round 
ed  with  a  sleep  every  day,  and  if  these  naps  are 
prevented,  I  will  not  answer  for  her  serenity  and 
agreeableness  of  behavior ;  and  you  might  wish 
her  in  Jericho  instead  of  in  your  house.  I  must 
be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  dear  sir,  in  another 
regard.  The  length  of  our  visit  to  you  will  make 
a  great  difference  about  our  household  arrange 
ments  here,  and  therefore  I  wish  you  would  not 
think  me  wholly  wanting  in  etiquette  and  propri 
ety  if  I  request  you  to  tell  me  whether  you  desire 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  185 

us  to  stay  one,  two,  or  three  weeks.  I  sincerely 
wish  to  know  which.  I  believe  you  appointed 
the  25th  of  July  for  the  appearance  of  our  con 
stellation  in  your  heavens.  Is  it  not  so  ?  We 
certainly  could  not  appear  before  that  time.  Your 
beautiful  engraving  of  the  Transfiguration  shines 
down  upon  us  superbly  all  day  long.  I  too  should 
like  to  command  gold,  so  as  to  perform  such  splen 
did  acts  for  my  friends.  I  have  often  thought  it 
would  be  enchanting  to  be  an  Aladdin's  Lamp, 
and  astonish  people  with  unexpected  pearls  and 
diamond  houses. 

"  Una  says  she  wishes  very  much  to  see  Mr. 
Bridge,  and  to  go  to  Portsmouth  and  breathe 
sea-air.  When  I  question  her  upon  the  subject, 
the  enthusiasm  of  her  assent  far  surpasses  our 
insignificant  yes.  In  her  eloquent  speeches  she 
always  points  with  the  forefinger  of  her  right 
hand,  which  proves  the  legitimacy  of  that  gesture 
in  oratory.  Her  language  continues  in  that  un 
intelligible,  divine  idiom  to  which  we  have  no 
grammar  nor  lexicon. 

"  My  husband  is  spending  this  great  day  upon 
the  river.  He  has  not  yet  said  he  shall  go  to 
Portsmouth.  He  thinks  he  is  too  poor,  I  believe; 
but  I  shall  persuade  him  to  the  contrary,  I  sus 
pect.  Una  wishes  to  be  remembered  to  you, 
with  the  gracious  permission  to  kiss  her  lily- 
white  hand.  I  am  very  sorry  I  have  had  to  write 


1 86  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

with  a  spoiled  steel  pen,  but  perhaps  you  can 
make  out  my  name.  With  cordial  congratula 
tions  upon  your  new  dignities,  I  am  yours  with 
much  regard. 

"  S.  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

"  SALEM,  Dec.  20,  1846. 

"DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE,  —  My  husband  enjoins 
upon  me  to  answer  your  very  welcome  letters  of 
August  2oth  and  October  2oth,  which  he  received 
yesterday.  As  he  has  a  high  regard  for  you  and 
an  utter  detestation  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  I  am 
glad  to  relieve  him  of  assuring  you,  by  means  of 
these  appliances,  how  cordially  we  remember  you, 
and  how  rejoiced  we  always  are  to  hear  of  your 
safety  and  well-being.  I  find  my  husband  calls 
you  *  the  truest  and  warmest  friend  he  has  in  the 
world.'  From  him  such  an  assurance  is,  in  my 
opinion,  equal  to  a  crown  of  glory.  Besides  most 
kindly  thinking  of  you  from  an  inward  impulse  as 
a  friend  in  need  and  deed,  we  are  perpetually  re 
minded  by  the  African  idol  upon  the  mantelpiece 
of  Mr.  Horatio  Bridge. 

"  Una  often  inquires  after  you,  and  now  un 
derstands  perfectly  that  you  are  upon  the  great 
sea  in  a  great  ship.  She  is  still  a  charming  little 
person,  though,  like  the  moon,  she  holds  her  course 
sometimes  behind  clouds  and  slender  storms,  but 
they  can  only  for  a  short  time  conceal  her  shin- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  187 

ing  smiles  and  gracious  countenance.  I  have 
never  discovered  any  ugliness  in  her  heart  and 
behavior,  for  wrong  has  hardly  power  to  cast  a 
shadow  upon  her  before  she  breaks  forth  all  con 
trition  and  sweetness.  She  is  in  perfect  health 
and  bloom,  and  just  now  enchanted  with  the 
snow,  which,  for  the  first  time,  she  is  big  enough 
to  play  with. 

"  Her  little  brother  is  an  entire  contrast  to  her 
ladyship.  His  father  called  him  the  Black  Prince 
during  the  first  weeks  of  his  life,  because  he  was 
so  dark  in  comparison  with  her.  He  is  decidedly, 
I  think,  a  brim ;  but  his  complexion  is  brilliant 
and  his  eyes  dark  gray,  with  long  black  lashes, 
like  Mr.  Hawthorne's.  We  thought  he  looked 
very  much  like  you  at  first,  but  he  does  not  now. 
He  is  a  Titan  in  strength  and  size,  and  though 
but  six  months  old,  is  as  large  as  some  children 
of  two  years.  His  father  declares  he  does  not 
care  anything  about  him  because  he  is  a  boy,  and 
so  I  am  obliged  to  love  him  twice  as  much  as  I 
otherwise  should.  He  is  as  pleasant  and  smiling 
as  a  summer's  day,  and  his  temperament  is  very 
sturdy  and  comfortable,  quite  unlike  Una's,  in 
not  being  at  all  sensitive ;  nor  is  he  as  delicately 
organized.  She  enjoys  him  very  much,  and  he 
admires  her  beyond  all  things. 

"  We  are  residing  in  the  most  stately  street  in 
Salem,  but  our  house  is  much  too  small  for  our 


1 88  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

necessities.  My  husband  has  no  study,  and  his 
life  is  actually  wasted  this  winter  for  want  of  one. 
He  has  not  touched  his  desk  since  we  came  to 
Salem,  nor  will  not,  until  we  can  remove  to  a  more 
convenient  dwelling,  I  fear. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  have  such  good  news  of 
your  book.  The  old  and  new  world  seem  to 
agree  in  its  favor.  It  certainly  has  had  a  won 
derful  success,  and  I  am  quite  content  that  you 
are  writing  more.  I  believe  that  you  will  write 
better  than  ever,  now  that  you  are  a  husband  and 
a  happy  man,  for  marriage,  with  true  sentiment 
•  and  comprehension,  is,  I  think,  a  great  apoca- 
iMypse,  and  opens  a  new  world.  I  rejoice  that 
you  have  ceased  to  be  a  stray  comet,  and  have 
come  into  a  regular  orbit,  for  I  should  imagine 
you  to  be  a  person  who  might  particularly  enjoy 
a  harmonious  domestic  life. 

"  I  only  saw  Mrs.  Bridge  once,  and  then  in  the 
street  in  Boston,  after  your  departure,  for  I  found 
it  impossible  to  call  upon  her  before  the  birth  of 
my  little  boy.  She  was  with  her  mother,  and  I 
greeted  her  and  shook  hands  with  her  very  cor 
dially.  She  looked  very  lovely  in  blue,  but  pale. 
I  hope  I  shall  know  her  some  day,  for  her  face 
and  manner  promise  a  noble  and  lovely  woman. 
It  seems  to  me  that  human  beings  are  wretched 
>./!  Arabs  until  they  find  central  points  in  other  hu- 
I  man  beings  around  which  all  their  brightest  and 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  189 

richest  sentiments  shall  revolve.  Every  true  and 
happy  family  is  a  solar  system  that  outshines  all 
the  solar  systems  in  space  and  time. 

"  Mr.  Hawthorne  will  write  a  postscript  and  tell 
you  about  the  war,  of  which  I  know  nothing  ex 
cept  the  gratifying  fact  that  Lieutenant 

was  shot.  Sincerely  yours, 

"  S.  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

"CONCORD,  April  5,  1864. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — Mr.  Hawthorne  has 
gone  upon  a  journey,  and  I  opened  your  letter 
this  morning.  When  you  write  anything  .1  must 
not  see  you  must  put  private  at  the  top  of  the 
page,  and  then  I  will  reverently  fold  up  the  letter 
and  put  it  aside. 

"Alas  !  it  was  no  '  author's  excuse'  which  was 
published  in  the  Atlantic,  but  a  most  sad  and  se 
rious  truth.  Mr.  Hawthorne  has  really  been  very 
ill  all  winter,  and  not  well,  by  any  means,  for  a 
much  longer  time ;  not  ill  in  bed,  but  miserable 
on  a  lounge  or  sofa,  and  quite  unable  to  write  a 
word,  even  a  letter,  and  lately  unable  to  read.  I 
have  felt  the  wildest  anxiety  about  him,  because 
he  is  a  person  who  has  been  immaculately  well 
all  his  life,  and  this  illness  has  seemed  to  me  an 
awful  dream  which  could  not  be  true.  But  he 
has  wasted  away  very  much,  and  the  suns  in  his 
eyes  are  collapsed,  and  he  has  had  no  spirits,  no 


1 90  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

appetite,  and  very  little  sleep.  Richard  was  not 
himself,  and  his  absolute  repugnance  to  see  a 
physician,  or  to  have  any  scientific  investigation 
of  his  indisposition,  has  weighed  me  down  like  a 
millstone.  I  have  felt  such  a  terrible  oppression 
in  thinking  that  all  was  not  doing  for  his  relief 
that  might  be  done,  that  sometimes  I  have  scarce 
ly  been  able  to  endure  it — at  moments  hardly 
able  to  fetch  my  breath  in  apprehension  of  the 
possible  danger.  But,  thank  Heaven,  Mr.  Tick- 
nor  has  taken  him  out  of  this  groove  of  existence, 
and  intends  to  keep  him  away  until  he  is  better. 
He  has  been  in  New  York  at  the  Astor  House 
since  last  Tuesday  night,  a  week  from  to-day.  I 
have  had  six  letters,  five  from  Mr.  Ticknor,  and 
one  at  last  from  my  husband,  written  with  a  very 
tremulous  hand,  but  with  a  cheerful  spirit. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Bridge,  you,  with  your  deep, 
warm,  tender  heart,  can  easily  imagine  how  I 
have  suffered  in  all  this.  My  faith  has  been  tried 
in  its  central  life.  I  bless  God  it  has  not  failed 
me ;  but  yet  I  cannot  conceive  of  myself  as  sur 
viving  any  peril  to  my  husband.  Though  I  would 
not  complain,  because  I  know  that  God  must  do 
right,  and  that  he  is  also  love  itself. 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  you  should  see 
Mr.  Hawthorne  in  Washington.  I  wish  he  could 
be  persuaded  to  stay  southward  until  these  pierc 
ing  east  winds  of  spring  abate  here.  But  he 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  19 1 

intends  to  go  a  little  later  to  the  Isle  of  Shoals, 
to  stay  until  the  advent  of  visitors  in  the  fashion 
able  season.  I  see  that  Concord  is  not  the  place 
for  him.  He  needs  the  damp  sea-air  for  health, 
comfort,  and  enjoyment.  I  wish,  with  all  my 
heart,  that  our  dear  little  Wayside  domain  could 
be  sold  advantageously  for  his  sake,  and  that  he 
could  wander  on  sea-beaches  all  the  rest  of  his 
days. 

"  The  state  of  our  country  has,  doubtless,  ex 
cessively  depressed  him.  His  busy  imagination 
has  woven  all  sorts  of  sad  tissues.  You  know 
his  indomitable,  untamable  spirit  of  independence 
and  self-help.  This  makes  the  condition  of  an 
invalid  peculiarly  irksome  to  him.  He  is  not  a 
very  manageable  baby,  because  he  has  so  long 
been  a  self-reliant  man  ;  but  his  innate  sweetness 
serves  him  here,  as  in  all  things,  and  he  is  very 
patient  and  good. 

"Julian  has  just  entered  upon  his  last  half  of 
freshman  year.  He  comes  home  every  Saturday 
and  spends  Sunday  with  us,  so  that  we  hardly 
have  lost  him.  He  stoutly  hates  the  Mathemat 
ics,  but  is  very  fond  of  Latin,  and  friendly  to 
Greek,  and  is  the  greatest  gymnast  in  his  class. 
He  is  very  strong  and  very  gentle,  and — you  will 
forgive  a  mother  for  saying  this — he  is  entirely 
of  the  aesthetic  order,  and  his  absence  and  unob- 
servance  of  worldly  considerations  will  probably 


IQ2  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

not  advance  him  in  the  dusty  arena  of  life ;  but 
he  will  be  unspoiled  for  the  next  world,  I  think, 
and  I  hope  he  will  be  able  to  make  at  least  a  liv 
ing  in  this. 

"Rosebud  is  blooming  out  vastly.  She  is 
nearly  a  head  above  Mama,  and  will  be  very  tall. 
She  is  now  discoursing  music  on  the  piano,  for 
which  she  has  a  good  faculty ;  and  she  goes  to 
school,  and  has  a  talent  for  drawing  figures.  Una 
is  very  well,  and  feels  excessively  aged  since  her 
twentieth  birthday,  though  Julian  assures  her  she 
looks  only  sixteen.  She  has  no  tutor  now,  but 
studies  by  herself  in  the  morning,  and  paints  in 
the  afternoon,  and  sews  for  the  soldiers  a  great 
deal.  I  have  written  you  too  much,  dear  Mr. 
Bridge ;  but  you  ask  me  after  all  these  folk,  and 
so  I  tell  you.  With  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs. 
Bridge,  I  am  Very  truly  yours, 

"  S.  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

"  THE  WAYSIDE,  CONCORD,  MASS.,  Nov.  7,  1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — Can  you  send  me 
any  memories  or  incidents  of  Mr.  Hawthorne's 
college  life,  when  you  were  with  him  so  much  ? 

"  I  am  now  very  much  occupied  in  copying  his 
journals,  or  portions  of  them,  for  papers  for  the 
Atlantic ;  and  something  is  demanded  of  his  life, 
and  these  records  in  his  own  words  are  the  best 
of  all  autobiography — I  mean  are  the  best  biog- 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  193 

raphy,  being  auto.  They  are  very  rich  as  studies 
of  nature  and  man,  and  now  and  then  a  glimpse 
of  his  personal  character  gleams  through  in  a  ra 
diant  way,  though  he  puts  himself  aside  as  much 
as  possible,  as  always.  The  Augusta  Journal  is 
all  copied,  in  which  I  have  ventured  to  put  Mr. 
B.  for  your  name.  You  figure  there  in  a  com 
manding  way,  being  lord  of  the  Manor  in  posi 
tion  and  character. 

"  The  reason  I  wish  to  have  you  write  down 
your  reminiscences  is  because,  by  and  by,  these 
papers  will  all  be  collected  into  a  volume,  and 
these  connecting  links  will  be  wanted.  The  ear 
liest  remaining  journal  begins  in  1835. 

"  I  have  requested  his  sister  to  write  her  recol 
lections  of  his  childhood  and  early  youth,  for  she 
alone  can  now  do  that. 

"  It  is  a  vast  pleasure  to  pore  over  his  books 
in  this  way.  I  seem  to  be  with  him  in  all  his 
walks  and  observations.  Such  faithful,  loving 
notes  of  all  he  saw  never  were  put  on  paper  be 
fore.  Nothing  human  is  considered  by  him  too 
mean  to  ponder  over.  No  bird,  nor  leaf,  nor  tint 
of  earth  or  sky  is  left  unnoticed.  He  is  a  crys 
tal  medium  of  all  the  sounds  and  shows  of  things, 
and  he  reverently  lets  everything  be  as  it  is,  and 
never  intermeddles,  nor  embellishes,  nor  detracts. 
It  is  truth  itself,  and  has  all  the  immortal  charm 
of  truth,  even  in  the  smallest  details.  For  do  we 
13 


194  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

not  like  to  see  even  a  common  object  of  still  life 
truthfully  represented  by  the  great  masters  of 
Dutchland  ?  It  is  only  the  great  masters  in  any 
art  who  trust  to  truth. 

"  I  hoped  to  see  you  again,  summer  before  the 
last,  with  Mrs.  Bridge.  My  constant  expectation 
of  seeing  her  prevented  me  from  replying  to  her 
very  kind  letter.  Will  you  tell  her  so  with  my 
love  ?  Perhaps  she  will  come  this  next  summer, 
if  she  can  bear  to  come  now  my  king  has  gone, 
and  so  the  cottage  is  no  longer  a  palace. 

"  I  shall  be  glad  of  any  occasion  to  hear  from 
you,  dear  Mr.  Bridge. 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  SOPHIA  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

"CONCORD,  MASS.,  Nov.  25,  1865. 

"Mv  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — I  have  both  your 
letters,  for  which  I  am  deeply  obliged.  I  feel 
great  compunction  in  asking  you  to  take  your 
time  to  recollect  the  past  in  regard  to  my  hus 
band,  for  it  seems  as  if  you  ought  to  rest  when 
you  leave  the  Bureau.  But  I  beg  you  not  to 
weary  yourself  in  doing  it,  for  there  is  no  press 
ing  hurry,  though,  as  you  truly  say,  '  we  should 
do  without  delay  what  is  to  be  done.'  I  mean 
that  this  is  not  to  be  done  if  it  tax  you  too 
much. 

"  Gen'l  Pierce  has  indeed  been  alarmingly  ill, 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  IQ5 

but  is  now  recovering.  Julian  happened  to  come 
home  to  forage  for  books,  and  I  sent  him  to 
Concord,  N.  H.,  immediately,  to  see  exactly  how 
he  was.  Julian  found  Gen'l  Pierce  very  weak, 
and  unable  to  sit  up,  and  fearfully  wasted,  but 
not  '  blue,'  as  Julian  expressed  it,  and  very  glad 
to  see  him,  and  Julian  read  aloud  to  him.  It 
was  a  bilious  affection  that  prostrated  him.  The 
day  after  Julian's  return,  Thursday,  23d,  he  was 
well  enough  to  think  of  sending  me  a  newspaper 
containing  a  paragraph  about  his  improvement 
in  health. 

"As  'gratitude  is  the  keen  sense  of  favors  to 
come,'  according  to  the  witty  Frenchman,  I  wish 
to  know  whether  you  can  help  me  to  any  auto 
graphs  of  persons  notorious  and  illustrious  in  the 
war  times.  1  have  a  dear  friend  in  England 
(dear  to  Mr.  Hawthorne,  too),  who  is  always  writ 
ing  eloquent  implorings  for  autographs  of  great 
Americans — great  in  treason,  great  in  patriotism, 
great  in  council,  great  in  prowess.  This  English 
friend  has  done  so  much  for  me,  in  sending  me 
the  finest  picture  in  the  world  of  my  husband, 
that  I  would  beg  for  him  anything  that  is  respect 
able.  If  you  cannot  attain  to  these  autographs, 
and  will  tell  me  to  whom  I  might  properly  apply, 
I  will  take  any  trouble  whatever  for  the  end  in 
view. 

"Your   last  letter  is  very  interesting  to  me. 


196  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

Mr.  Hawthorne  always  scorned  the  idea  that  he 
had  ever  written  any  poetry.  And  I  never  saw 
any  he  wrote  except  a  single  poem  which  is  in 
his  own  handwriting,  given  to  me,  I  believe,  by 
his  sister.  But  I  never  dared  let  him  know  I 
possessed  it,  for  he  would  have  forbidden  me  to 
keep  it,  probably.  His  ideal  was  so  high,  and 
his  modesty  so  excessive,  that  he  was  never  sat 
isfied  with  anything  he  accomplished,  even  to 
the  last.  But  his  first  efforts  he  utterly  despised. 

"  I  hope  you  will  recall  characteristics  of  his 
early  youth.  Do  you  remember  the  scene  with 
the  gypsy  in  Brunswick  ?  Of  a  woman  who  told 
fortunes  ? 

"  I  hope  you  are  very  well,  dear  Mr.  Bridge. 
Those  friends  of  my  husband's  whom  he  loved 
so  faithfully  are  very  precious  to  me.  There 
were  but  few— you  and  Gen'l  Pierce  the  chief. 
But  I  feel  a  vital  interest  in  your  and  in  his 
health  and  well-being.  I  hope  you  are  better 
than  when  I  saw  you  here. 

"  With  our  love  to  you  and  Mrs.  Bridge, 
"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"S.  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

<:  January  19,  1866. 

"Mv  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — To-day  I  received 
your  kind  note  and  the  paper  of  reminiscences, 
for  which  I  thank  you  exceedingly.  Once  be- 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE  197 

fore  (Nov.  24)  I  received  a  paper  from  you,  which 
I  acknowledged  at  once,  and  at  the  same  time 
asked  you  if  you  could  procure  me  some  auto 
graphs  of  our  famous  men  of  the  war,  statesmen 
and  generals,  for  an  English  friend,  to  whom 
my  husband  had  promised  some.  It  is  a  mat 
ter  of  great  moment  with  this  gentleman,  and 
every  time  I  have  a  letter  from  him  he  mentions 
his  hopes  and  expectations.  I  cannot  bear  to 
trouble  you,  but  I  do  not  know  to  whom  else 
to  apply  ;  and  I  feel  bound  to  fulfil  Mr.  Haw 
thorne's  intentions,  especially  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Bright,  who  loved  him  so  truly. 

"  I  have  a  very  lame  right  hand,  and  so  I  can 
not  write  but  a  few  words,  or  I  should  enlarge 
upon  these  very  interesting  particulars  about  Mr. 
Hawthorne. 

"  Gratefully  and  cordially  yours, 

"  SOPHIA  A.  HAWTHORNE." 

"1866. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — To-day  I  received 
your  letters  enclosing  the  autographs.  I  cannot 
express  how  much  obliged  I  am  to  you  for  them, 
for  Mr.  Bright  writes  from  time  to  time  a  pathetic 
appeal  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  made 
him.  He  has  lately  met  with  a  severe  bereave 
ment  in  the  death  of  a  brother,  who  was  the  pride 
and  hope  of  the  family,  and  it  is  the  first  time  in 


198  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

a  large  circle  that  one  has  been  taken  ;   but  I 
shall  send  him  the  autographs. 

*  *  *  *  #  # 

"  You  must  excuse  me  for  not  thinking  Mr- 
Hawthorne  over-valued  you.  I  never  heard  from 
him  but  one  opinion  on  this  subject.  He  had  the 
utmost  reliance  upon  you,  and  reposed  upon  it 
with  infinite  satisfaction.  It  seems  to  me  not  a 
small  merit  to  have  inspired  in  him  such  respect, 
love,  and  trust  as  he  invariably  expressed  for  you. 
That  you  do  not  recognize  yourself  in  his  portrait 
only  makes  it  the  truer.  I  always  felt  that  he 
had  no  more  thorough  friend  than  you  in  the 
world,  and  I  know  he  thought  so. 

"  How  very  kind  of  you  to  find  me  these  auto 
graphs.     I  thank  you  over  and  over  for  them. 
We  all  send  our  love  to  you  and  Mrs.  Bridge. 
"  Very  cordially  yours, 

"  S.  A.  HAWTHORNE. 

"  P.S. — For  your  last  reminiscences  I  am  deep 
ly  obliged.  Every  word  you  record  is  to  me  like 
apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver,  because  I  can 
so  absolutely  trust  your  truth  and  sincerity.  You 
see  I  am  smitten  with  my  husband's  great  preju 
dice  in  your  favor. — S.  H." 

"Jan.  2d,  1867. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BRIDGE, — I  take  the  liberty  to 


NATHANIEL    ^AWTHORNE  199 

enclose  this  letter  to  you,  because  I  do  not  know 
whether  General  Hitchcock  be  in  Washington  or 
not,  and  I  did  not  wish  my  letter  to  go  to  the 
Dead-letter  Office.  He  used  to  live  on  Penn 
sylvania  Avenue.  If  you  will  put  the  address  on 
for  me  I  shall  thank  you  very  much. 

"  I  send  to  you  and  Mrs.  Bridge  all  Christmas 
and  New  Year  good  wishes.  I  have  been  con 
fined  to  my  room  for  three  weeks,  but  am  now 
better.  The  children  are  all  well  and  satisfac 
tory.  Rose  has  just  left  me,  having  been  at 
home  through  the  Christmas  holidays.  She  is 
now  at  Dr.  Lewis's  famous  gymnastic  school  in 
Lexington.  Julian  is  reading  his  logic  and  meta 
physics.  Una  reads  history  to  me  and  the  litera 
ture  suggested  as  she  goes  on.  She  also  is  keep 
ing  up  her  music  and  Latin,  and  has  a  class  in 
gymnastics.  They  are  all  so  bright  and  good 
that  my  life  is  a  thanksgiving  for  them.  I  live 
•  for  them.  When  they  are  settled  in  life  I  should 
like  to  sleep  as  he  did,  if  God  please.  Affairs 
perplex  and  tire  me  very  much,  yet  I  am  in  great 
peace. 

"  I  hope  you  and  Mrs.  Bridge  are  well.  I  fear 
you  are  too  busy  to  tell  me  how  you  do.  With 
my  love  to  Mrs.  Bridge,  I  am, 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  SOPHIA  A.  HAWTHORNE." 


200  NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

In  conclusion  let  me  hope  that,  while  gleaning 
a  few  grains  in  the  field  of  Hawthorne's  history, 
I  shall  have  contributed  something  which  will,  at 
least,  have  the  value  of  personal  testimony,  and 
which  may,  perhaps,  be  used  with  advantage  by 
some  biographer  in  the  future. 

I  may  also  hope  that  the  disclosures  herein 
made  will  give  a  modicum  of  pleasure,  unalloyed 
by  adverse  criticism,  to  those  who  are  near  and 
dear  to  me. 

To  them  I  commend  this  little  volume. 


THE  END 


t) 


RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


m. 

nro.riR.NW  29 '78 

NOV18J981 


BECCIRC  APR    91985 


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